The Second chance
by Penny Charlotte Brown
Summary: What if Oscar had known about the destiny of the people in France? What if she had known that the Revolution would come and that André and herself would die? Could she change the course of history and save both the man she loves and herself? This fic follows the original story of Rose of Versailles...But now, Oscar has a chance to change things...What will she do differently?
1. Prolog

Prolog: The second chance

Paris 14 th July 1789…

Near the Bastille lied a figure…Oscar François de Jarjayes…

Oscar had been seriously wounded…She had been shot at...Rosalie Chatêlet was there next to her crying...She had bent over to Oscar...

Oscar was lying on the ground, she was dying…But she wasn´t scared, because soon she would be reunited with her husband André…Her last words were "liberté…fraternité…égalité!" After saying those words, she closed her eyes…and then she died…

Soon after the Bastille was taken over and its prisoners were freed …Just as she had wanted…A new era was about to start…And the fall of the Bastille was the first real battle between the people and the king…The Ancient Regime soon fell and a new chapter in history would start…

But for Oscar François de Jarjayes it was the end…Or was it?

Oscar felt strange…The next thing she knew was when she woke up from her bed in her room in the middle of the night. It was her familiar room all right…She was in de Jarjayes manor…Why?

Even when it was dark, she could still see a figure standing next to her bed. "André!" she yelled out of habit without thinking any further…

"Oscar!" she heard him replying…Could it be…André?

André:"Oscar! What´s wrong?" he replied and lighted a candle beside her bed.

With her surprise, it was André…He was alive and well and…"Wait! Are we…Is this…" Oscar asked him. She was confused. André was there, but he looked…young…much younger… Why?" Is that, what happens to all dead people? They are young and healthy again?" she thought.

André:"Relax, Oscar! You are still very ill. The wound in your arm almost killed you."

Oscar was shocked…"The wound in my…ARM!?" she yelled.

André:"What´s wrong? You behave very strangely…as if you didn´t remember…" he had noticed her strange behavior. "Maybe it was all due to her accident? She was very seriously wounded and perhaps a little confused because of it?" he wondered.

Oscar:"Remember what?! Why do you look so young? Your hair…" she looked at him…he looked more than ten years younger, his dark brown hair was still long and tied…"Come closer" Oscar told him. She saw that both of his bluish green eyes were just fine.

André was surprised by the way Oscar behaved. Now he was certain, that it was because of the shock after the accident, she did fell off…or more accurately; jumped off…the horse…"maybe she hit her head as well and lost her memory" he thought.

André:" Stay calm, I´m going to fetch the doctor." then he rushed to the door.

Oscar:"André! Wait!" she yelled…she had no idea of what had happened, why she was here in her room and why André looked younger…but she knew that André wasn´t aware of it…So she decided to stay quiet and asked him about the circumstances…

Oscar:"André…Please, come back." she asked him.

André came back to her and smiled. "You were yelling in your sleep…Did you have a nightmare?"

Oscar:"Yes…It must have been that. André, will you hold my hand?"

He sat on her bed and took her by the hand.

Oscar:"Please, tell me. What has happened? Tell me everything you know."

André:"All right, Oscar…" he told her in a gentle voice…

André:"Only yesterday the dauphin wanted to ride a horse…then the horse got bolted and ran away with the dauphin on its back. Luckily, you saved her…but doing that, you hurt yourself…" André smiled, but his eyes were sad because he was worried about her. Then, he continued:"His Majesty blamed me for the accident and was about to…sentence me to death, when you came to save me" now, his eyes were full with tears:"after saving me, you collapsed. We brought you here and the doctor came to see you. You were unconscious, but luckily you opened your eyes in front of my grandma and me. We were so happy to see you…" it was getting more and more difficult for him to speak.

Oscar:"Really? And now…"

André:"Grandma went to bed, but I wanted to stay here…"

Oscar examined her body; there was no bullet holes…What was that all about? Wasn´t she just a moment ago dying? Was this Heaven? No, she didn´t think so…If this was Heaven, then surely André would have remembered…he would be older…Was that just a dream? If it was, it sure felt like a real life…

Then she examined her face and her hair…Her blond hair was shorter and her face…she couldn´t see her face, so she asked André to tell her…

André:"…"

Oscar:"Go ahead, tell me! What do I look like?!" she insisted.

André:"As beautiful as ever…you have a…" he was red all over and didn´t know what to say to that sudden question…so, he started to joke…"Well, there isn´t any second head, if that`s what you're afraid of!"

That sentence cheered Oscar, and she laughed. She knew that he wanted to make her laugh, in which he had succeeded well. "Thank you, André." she felt better already. But André was still worried…

André:"Are you feeling all right? Are you in pain? I could fetch the doctor…"

Oscar:"No!" she yelled and then stopped to think…Everything surrounding her was real…Even André was real. He was the same old André she knew…always trying to cheer her up…This wasn´t Heaven, nor a dream…But rather; this was real.

Then, all of a sudden, Oscar started to laugh. André was stunned…he didn´t know, what to say or how to react.

Oscar:"Dear God! It was just a nightmare!" she was relieved.

André:"A nightmare? Is that the reason you yelled?"

Oscar:"Yes. I had the strangest dream…no…a nightmare. I was there with you. We were…" she stopped, because she remembered that in her nightmare, they –she and André-were in love and married… for a short while they were happy, but he had died in her arms…" tears fell down on her cheeks…"much older…" she didn´t want to tell him, that he had died.

André:"why are you crying?"

Oscar:"Because the people in Paris were hungry and desperate…They were so miserable that…they had no other choice but to start…a revolution."

André was speechless for a moment. What a terrible nightmare Oscar had seen…

Oscar smiled:" Well…It was just a nightmare! Don´t worry, I´ll be all right. You should go to sleep now."

André:"But Oscar…"

Oscar:"I promise you that I will sleep now. And I will not have any more nightmares."

André stood up and walked to the door. Then he opened it…

Oscar:"André…I´m glad that you are all right!" she smiled to him.

André smiled back…"I am glad that you are all right. Good night, Oscar! Sleep tight!"

Oscar:"Good night, André."

Then André closed the door behind him and Oscar was now alone in her room. She thought:"Thank God it was just a nightmare…Best just to forget about it." Then she closed her eyes and fell in sleep…

To be continued…


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The King is dead, long live the King!

As time past by, Oscar thought less and less of the nightmare. It was just a silly, wild dream she thought…It couldn´t be true…But then something happened, something that she found somewhat familiar…As if she had experienced it before…

In April 1774…The king Louis XV suddenly fell ill. When the news reached Oscar, she was shocked. Not only because she was concerned for the king, but also because that was exactly what had happened in her nightmare… It was precisely the same…"How this could be?" she thought.

She was in her room with André talking about the King Louis XV and his sudden illness…

She was standing by the window next to André worrying about the king…There was a moment of silence, but then André finally broke it. André knew that she was worrying about the King, so he told her that the king would get better. He had to.

Oscar:"No, André. His Majesty won´t get better…" she replied with a bit of sadness in her voice.

André was staring at her with a surprised look on his face. He didn´t say anything, because he knew Oscar would soon explain why she said that way. When she turned towards him and looked at him, she got scared. She was almost shocked…She was scared because of the fact that she knew the king Louis XV was dying, but even more scared of the things that would follow…the people´s misery, that eventually would lead to the Revolution…

Oscar:"…the king has smallpox and he will die soon…"

André:"How do you know that?!" He was now even more surprised. Why would Oscar say something like that?

Oscar:"But before he dies, he will send Madame Du Barry away from the Versailles…"

André:"What?! No way he´ll send his mistress away!" he replied. "Why would the king do something like that?" he asked her.

Oscar:"Because he wants to receive religious absolution before he dies…"

André:"Oscar…" he looked at her with his eyes full of concern. After the accident Oscar had somewhat changed…Not much, but…He felt as if something was wrong…He wanted her to tell him…He wanted to help…

Oscar knew that André was suspicious…There were long silence between them…Oscar was so concentrated on her nightmare, that she didn´t even dare to look at André…

André:"Oscar…What´s wrong? Please, tell me."

Oscar turned to look at her friend…She so much wanted him to convince that this all was just coincide and nothing more…But…

She looked at him and all of a sudden tears came running down her cheeks…She couldn´t help it…She thought of the poor people, of Lady Antoinette and André…André, who was her best friend since childhood, would lose his eye…then the other…And then…then…"No!"She screamed. It was too horrible to even think about it.

Oscar:"No!" she screamed and ran away…

André:"Oscar!" he stood still and watched, while Oscar ran away. He first thought was to follow her, but then he thought she wanted some time alone.

Oscar ran as fast as she could…as far as she could. She wanted to forget all the bad things…

"This must be coincidence! The king was old…he could have had a fatal disease anytime…There is nothing more to it! Those events I saw, will not happen!" she cried as she lied down on the floor.

Few days later…

The king Louis XV sent Madame Du Barry away from the Versailles and died soon after that…Just as Oscar had predicted…The King died of smallpox. And in June 1775 the new king, King Louis XVI was coroneted. Everybody seemed to be cheerful and happy for the new king and the queen. Everyone was expecting things to go better…

Oscar was at ease…Maybe she was mistaken…After all, the king and the queen were very passionate towards their people. They would never allow their people to suffer… Or would they?

Oscar was little confused, but she tried to convince herself that the nightmare she saw, was just a nightmare…Nothing more…Until that day they met Rosalie…

In the streets of Paris…

Oscar was sitting in her carriage with André, when all of a sudden, someone stopped the carriage. They were in the middle of Paris…When Oscar looked outside; she was surprised to see a familiar face…"Rosalie! It can´t be!" she thought. Rosalie was selling her body to her…Oscar remembered those exact same words Rosalie had said before…Oscar had laughed before, but not this time…this time she was shocked. Oscar stepped outside and gave Rosalie some money and made her promise not to sell her body again. Then she stepped into the carriage again and they drove off.

As Oscar and André were sitting in the carriage, André saw that scared look on Oscar´s face. He had to ask her what the matter was. Oscar thought a while, should she tell him the truth about her bad feelings…Would he believe her? How much should she tell him? At least she couldn´t tell him about his death…

Oscar:"Remember, when you were ten and I was nine? We promised to each other that there would be no secrets between us?"

André:"Yes, how could I forget that…"

Oscar:"It´s about the nightmare I saw…"

André:"About our future? About people´s misery?"

She nodded…"I remember Rosalie from that nightmare. She offered her body to me in my nightmare, just as she did now…"

André:"But…"

Oscar:"I know! It sounds crazy…even I have hard time to believe that. But André! What I tell you, is the truth! I swear!" she was very excited.

André:"All right, Oscar…it is a bit hard to swallow…" He didn´t know what to believe. He knew Oscar, he knew her so well, that he knew she wasn´t joking. She wasn´t that kind of a person, who would tell nonsense…She was very clever and her arguments were always sane. So, André was sure that Oscar wasn´t lying. She was telling the truth, but how…How could she know the future?

Oscar thought a while of how could she convince him…Then she knew exactly, what to do. She told him about the incident with the Duke de Guéménée and a small boy called Pierre. She got angry, when she described him the facts. "We have to do something about that! We have to save the boy!" she yelled.

André tried to calm her down…"You know that the Duke has too much power, even the king can´t touch him. He is too much for you, Oscar!" he told her. He didn´t want her to get hurt…Not her, his beloved Oscar.

Oscar:"If we plan this, it will go just fine and nobody gets hurt! I can´t just stand back and watch, when that bastard kills that small child!"

André looked at her with admiring eyes…"That fire inside you…I just love it! My Oscar…" he thought.

Oscar:"Well, André! Will you do it? Will you help me to save the boy?!"

André:"Yes, Oscar. You can count on me." He smiled to her tenderly.

The carriage continued its journey, while those two friends worked out with a plan to save that boy…

To be continued…


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Pierre, a small boy from Paris

Oscar and André were sitting in the carriage talking about Oscar´s promotion. She had become the High Commander in the Royal Guards. Although, she had hesitated whether to take the position or not, she had finally agreed to it. It was André, who had convinced her…After all, in that position, maybe she could convince the queen to consider more of her actions and the welfare of her people.

Everyone knew that Her Majesty was spending more money than she should, giving her favorites gifts, money…Well, everything they wished for. Her Majesty had even offered Oscar more salary and pension, but Oscar had turned them down. But the queen didn´t stop there: after that Her Majesty wanted to drown Oscar with gifts. Oscar had refused them all. She knew that all those gifts were bought with people´s money. The people paid high taxes, so that the queen could buy presents for her favorites…

Oscar had even tried to reason with her not to spend so much money, but that was in vain. The queen hadn´t understood…at all…All she cared about was to have fun…and then, there was someone, who had captured her heart completely: Hans Axel von Fersen. Lady Antoinette had spent too much time with him…much too much. Oscar had taken things in her own hands; she had gone to see him and make him leave France, which he did...

André:"The queen spends too much money…" he said to Oscar.

Oscar:"You are quite right and it can´t continue much longer…" then she paused thinking whether to continue her sentence, which she did:"In a way, I do understand her…She´s lonely now…"

André:"You are talking about Fersen?" Something about her last sentence made him a bit jealous…"Oscar, are you talking about the queen or about yourself? He is not your type!" he thought, but couldn't say that. He had never spoken about his feelings...How could he have? He was a commoner and she was a noble. No way would that work. It was a hopeless love…He knew he could never speak about his feelings…never confess his love for her in public…

Oscar looked outside: "André! We´re nearly there! Be prepared…and careful."

André nodded. His mind was now focused on the job ahead of them. They were on a mission to save a small child from an evil Duke.

The carriage stopped and Oscar looked at André. This was it…

People were gathered around to watch a scene…a boy was weeping in front of a Duke. The boy had stolen some money from him. The Duke was very angry and was ready to punish the child, when all of a sudden a young man came running towards them, grabbed the boy in his arms and got on running away…It all had happened very fast and the Duke was stunned for a moment. He couldn´t react.

Duke:"What the hell is going on?!" he swore. Then he took a pistol to his hand and raised his arm in order to shoot…He was aiming at the man, who was running away with the child in his arms…

The Duke was ready to pull the trigger, when someone from behind hit his hand and the pistol fell to the ground. He turned to look …he was surprised to see the son…no, the daughter of general de Jarjayes; Oscar François de Jarjayes.

Meanwhile André had taken the boy to safety and was now warning him about the Duke…They were in one of the alleys…

André:" That Duke is an evil man. He could do anything, so just stay away from him. Okay?"

The boy:"Okay…"he hadn´t really get, why did the man took him away…

André knew he had to convince the boy…" I mean it! If you ever see him again, run away and hide. Tell that to your friends too! He could do something nasty to you, so that your mother would get sad. Now, you wouldn´t want your mother to get sad, would you?"

The boy:"No, sir!...What´s your name, mister?"

André:"Call me André." he smiled to the boy trying to assure that everything was fine.

Then André remembered Oscar´s nightmare…It seemed true, but he still had some difficulties to believe…he had to ask the boy`s name…

André:"What´s your name?"

The boy:"It´s Pierre, mister."

It was exactly what Oscar had told him…"It is true, then." André thought. "Nice to meet you, Pierre. I got to go now." he smiled and gave the boy some money…" Go home and give this money to your mother, so that she can buy you food. A growing boy like you need lots of food." Then André left running back to Oscar.

Pierre:"Thank you, mister!" Pierre yelled to André, but André was too far away to hear.

Although Oscar had told André to stay hidden, he couldn´t leave Oscar alone. He had to get back and see how she was handling the Duke. When André got back, he saw Oscar arguing with the Duke…

Oscar:"…you would have shot a child, who is still too young to know right from wrong in the back with the pistol!"

Duke:"That child stole money from me! What´s wrong with punishing a thief?! The poor are always looking for a chance to steal from us! It would have been right thing to do!"

Oscar:"If a young child steals for hunger, what right to we have to judge?! Or, are you saying that you are God yourself, Duke?!"

Duke:"W-What an insult! I´m Duke Henri Salvador de Guéménée! What a conceited squirt!"

Oscar:" You are the conceited one! Are you allowed to do anything you like, even if you are a Duke? Are you really a noble?!"

Then the Duke slapped Oscar with his glove…André couldn´t believe his eyes…the Duke was challenging Oscar to a duel. André ran to Oscar without thinking that the Duke would see him…The Duke looked at André and got even angrier…

Duke:"Wait! This man…HE interfered with my punishment! Do you know him?!"

Oscar:"Yes. He took the boy away, because I ordered him to do it. I´m his master and he does what I tell him to do. So; his doings are my doings."

Duke:"You…"

Oscar:"You should consider your own wellbeing, because if you touch my servant in any way…"

Duke:"Are you threatening me?!"

Oscar:"No, it wasn't a threat, it was a promise." then she bent and lifted his glove up. "I, Oscar François, accept your challenge…on a condition that you leave my servant alone."

André:"Oscar" he whispered.

Duke:" Very well. He did only what YOU told him to. I don´t blame him. My assistant will let you know the time and the place. Your choice of weapon?"

Oscar:"Your favorite pistols are fine with me."

Duke:"Don´t back out at the last moment, promise!"

Oscar:"Since I was born, I have never broken a promise!"

Duke:"How impudent! I shall make a hole in your beautiful face!"

After saying those words the Duke got into his carriage…Oscar and André watched, while the carriage drove off…

Oscar:"A duel, huh?"

What would happen this time? Would Oscar still win the duel? Or did the Duke had something on his sleeve…for her?

To be continued…


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Duel at the break of dawn

Time passed by quickly, and soon the day for the duel was coming near…the Duke de Guéménée wanted to make sure that he would win. He was willing to do anything for that matter, because he couldn´t let the female High Commander Oscar François de Jarjayes, with her arrogant servant André, to embarrass him anymore.

So he now was consulting Duke de Orleáns upon the means to succeed in that…De Orleáns had suggested a place perfect for the duel; in front of the Cathedral de Chartres…There, in a very specific place and at very specific time…

De Guéménée:"…so, you think that the place is perfect?"

De Orleáns:"Yes, the rays of the rising sun will temporarily make her blind…"

De Guéménée:"All right, then…"

De Orleáns:"But, since she embarrassed you so completely…just to make sure…I had done some changes to the one of the pistols. I´ll make sure that she will get it."

De Guéménée:"What changes?"

De Orleáns laughed:"Don´t you worry about that! All you need to know is that when the pistol is fired, it will damage the hand of the person, who is holding it. So, if she gets a chance to fire it from the first place, she will not be able to shoot you."

De Guéménée:"But wouldn´t it look suspicious?"

De Orleáns:"Well, accidents do happen! And the pistols aren´t always so reliable!"

They both started to laugh…There would be no way that Oscar François de Jarjayes would win this fight…

Later at de Jarjayes´ manor…

The night before the duel Oscar was sitting on a lawn in their garden, when André came to her. He knew that something was bothering Oscar. Perhaps she was nervous because of the duel that was taking place the next day…

He asked her straight…She confided in André that she was a bit scared, but not only because of the duel that was taking place in the next morning, but also because of the future events. What if she was unable to change to course of events? She was also thinking about the horrible fate that awaited her best friend. She couldn´t tell him, so she had to try to save him from his fate…by herself…somehow. She would think about it another time, because right now she had to concentrate on the duel tomorrow…

André:"…So that´s what I heard. Oscar, if something goes wrong…"

Oscar:"Now, don´t tell me that you are afraid?"

André:"No. I know that you´ll win." he wanted to make her at ease.

Oscar:"I´m not worried about that."

André knew that something was bothering her, he could tell that. He always knew…But, since she didn´t want to talk about it, he changed the subject. He didn´t want to force her to talk about it, if she didn´t want to…He just wanted to make her feel easier…

André:"Do you remember, Oscar? When you were seven, we buried our treasures under that oak tree…A big lead top and a red knife. Do you think that they´re still there?"

Oscar:"I don´t know."

André:"Let´s leave by the back gate tomorrow morning. If my grandma finds out, she´ll make a fuss."

Oscar:"Gerodère is my assistant. You don´t have to come." She said that even if she knew that he would come there anyway, he always did accompany her…

André:"I´ll see you off halfway." then he got up and was about to continue, to talk when Oscar spoke…

Oscar:" However evil the Duke might be, I am still afraid of taking a human life... André, if I die, keep the treasures buried under the oak tree; a lead top, red knife and the stuffed bear…"

André:"…"

Oscar smiled:"Please, stay with me for a little while longer, just a little…One´s life is too short and it´s over before one can realize it."

So, they stayed there for a while…Just a bit while longer…

Then, the morning came…Everybody that was involved in the duel…Oscar, Duke de Guéménée, Duke de Orleáns, Gerodère… were in front of the Cathedral de Chartres… André was standing further away…The duel was about to start…Both Oscar and the Duke had taken their pistols and were taking paces…

Seven…Eight…Nine…

When Oscar stepped her ninth step, she could see the ray of the sun in front of her that would make her blind at the crucial moment…She knew what to do, after all, she had done it once before…

…Ten…

She turned around and protected her eyes with her right hand. That gave the Duke enough time to fire his pistol before she could…the Duke pointed his pistol towards her and pulled the trigger…

…Bang!... Something went wrong…The pistol in his hand dropped and the Duke yelled…Something had happened to his hand. It was injured. Oscar´s plan had worked; she had been somewhat suspicious about the Duke and had André follow him. André had found out about the dangerous pistol and had swapped the pistols just in time.

Now, it was her time to shoot…"This is for trying to kill both André and Pierre." she thought and fired the gun. This time she aimed at his left hand. Now the Duke had both of his hands injured and he was furious.

De Guéménée:"This is all you doings!" He shouted at Oscar and accused her of damaging his pistol.

Oscar:"How could I have done that?! It was your pistol in the first place! You had done something…" she started to be very angry and would have continued her accusations, if André wouldn´t have gone to stop her.

André: "Calm down, Oscar" he whispered in her ear:"He´s not worth it."

Oscar:"You are right…" she calmed down and smiled to André.

Soon the queen arrived at the scene and scolded Oscar for involving in the duel with the Duke… But that wasn´t going to make the Duke satisfied…He wanted revenge. He swore that someday he would get both Oscar François and her servant André to pay…He would wait until the time would be right for his revenge and then…Oscar would regret the day she was born in…

Unfortunately, the Duke would not be the only one, who would consider Oscar as a threat. Oscar would soon get in the way of Madame de Polignac…Marie Antoinette´s personal favorite, who would be willing to do anything to get her way. Although, Oscar wanted to do the right thing and save people…But what was the price she would have to pay by altering the wheels of time? Or could she even do it? Were things she saw happening, going to happen anyway? No matter what she did? By saving the little boy´s life, she had gained a powerful enemy…At least; there was one significant question on her mind; why she had seen her future in beforehand?

To be continued…


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: André, the man beside Oscar

After the duel with the Duke, the queen had sentenced Oscar to a month´s confinement, during which Oscar had left to Arras together with André and their family doctor. Even thought Oscar was forbidden to leave her mansion, she wanted to go to the countryside for a little vacation…She wanted André to come along with her, so that they both could have a long expected leave from the military, the queen, the daily scores…well, from everything.

They both seemed to be in a good mood. A little break from the Royal Guards would do them both good, as she had said to André. They were anxious about going to Arras; after all, it was their favorite place. Soon they would enjoy plenty of fresh air and delicious country meals…

As they were on their way to Arras, they took a break…They were sitting on grass by a river letting their horses rest for a while…

André:"Well, we´ll get to Arras soon…" then they noticed a man and a boy walking by, both familiar to them. André and Oscar went to greet them.

André:"Monsieur Sugan, it´s been a long time." he smiled.

They noticed that both monsieur Sugan and the boy were awfully quiet and unkind to them…and especially to Oscar.

Oscar:"What´s wrong? It´s me, Oscar."

Sugan:"What brought you here today?" he tried to avoid the subject.

Oscar:"Oh, we just came to look around. That´s your youngest boy there…?" she looked at the boy, who had hide himself behind his father.

Sugan:"Yes, his name is Gilbert."

Oscar:"Bonjour, Gilbert. Monsieur Sugan, I brought my family doctor here with us, so that you could all use his services. We´ll be here for ten days and he´ll be holding his practice for you all for free. Please, visit him."

Sugan:"Why would you do that?" he was surprised by the sudden offer.

Oscar:"I heard that you have no doctor here, so I brought mine."

Sugan:" Please, excuse us." they were about to leave, when Oscar stopped him.

Oscar:"Mister Sugan…Your son seems a bit ill. Let my doctor examine him, please."

Sugan:"But…"

Oscar:"It´s all right, he won´t charge you. I told him so. Please, I just want to help."

Sugan:"All right."

Oscar and André left the doctor to the people and headed for the restaurant, they were starving. There they met Robespierre…

Oscar:"Didn´t you give a congratulatory speech for the School of Louis le Grand at Louis XVI´s coronation?"

Robespierre:"You remembered me. I´m Maximilian Robespierre."

Oscar went to sit on his table and asked André to join them. She listened to Robespierre with concerned thoughts. This time she wanted to listen…even if the words against the queen hurt her. She made herself to listen, because she wanted to know everything…And in some points she even agreed with Robespierre…

Soon after Robespierre had left, Oscar´s family doctor came in to tell her about Gilbert. He had been seriously ill and taken to the hospital. He had been taken there in time and he now showed signs of recovering.

Later that night, Oscar was awake in her room…she was thinking about André. It was now or never that she had to do it, the hardest thing she ever had to do in her life; she had to let André go…For his own sake. She couldn´t let him suffer because of her.

Oscar: "Poor André, you love me…But I´m sorry…I don´t love you and I don´t think I ever will. How can I? I think of you as my brother." She thought. Then she remembered her nightmare and the night André confessed his feelings for her, the incident he lost his eye and finally his death…"It will never happen." she swore: " I am fond of you and I enjoy your company, but if being with me makes you suffer, then…" tears fell down her cheeks…"I cannot be selfish! For your sake I will let you go, set you free, so that you can do anything you want to…You can be healthy and grow old." Her thoughts were interfered, when there was a knock on the door.

Oscar:"André, come in."

André:"Oscar, you called for me." he then closed the door behind him and walked to her.

Oscar wiped the tears off her cheeks and turned around. She smiled.

André noticed her reddish eyes and knew she had been crying.

André:"Oscar, what´s wrong? Why you´ve been crying?"

Oscar:"I wasn´t…Yes, I was…I was just thinking about those poor people in the village…"

André:"It´s just marvelous of you to bring your doctor here! But that´s what you are; even when you seem cold outside, you really are…"

"André…" she stopped him and turned around to look outside…"What would you like to do, if you were free? Free to do anything?"

André was startled. Why would she ask something like that? Why now, for all the time?

Oscar:"I´m asking you, because I want to release you…to give you a chance to do everything you´ve always wanted to do. I´ll ask my father to grand you enough money so that you and your grandma can start a new life. Think about it; you could do anything, live in the countryside, get married, establish your own business…whatever that you want."

André remained speechless for a while, then he said:"Oscar, I don´t want to get married! Nor am I eager to establish my own business!"

Oscar turned around and continued:"The question came too suddenly for you. I´ll give you some time to think about it…"

André grabbed her hands and said in a firm voice:"Oscar, I don´t need time to think it over! I´m not leaving! Ever! You know you need me! I´m the only one who knows about your vision and the only one, who can help you! I´m the only one, who can protect you."

Oscar:"André! Let go of my hands!"

He did so, but he continued his speech:"Oscar, doesn´t our friendship mean anything to you? We´ve been together ever since childhood! You cannot discard me just like that! Don´t you think I have something to say about that?"

Oscar avoided his gaze…Then he realized it…

André:"It´s about this nightmare, isn´t it? You saw that something terrible is going to happen to me and now you´re trying to save me? Is that it?"

Oscar started to weep. It was then, that André pulled her near, into his arms and let her cry on his shoulders.

André:"Oscar, it´s all right. Now that we know, what will happen to me, we can stop it, right? Whatever happens, I´ll be with you. I´ll never leave you." he comforted her.

André was right, she did need him if she wanted to change the future…She had to figure out some other way to save André and to prevent those events ever happening to him…

To be continued…


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: The evil plans of Madame de Polignac

In 1779 Hans Axel von Fersen came back to France after 4 years of absence. Four long years had passed since Oscar had seen him…Soon, they would meet again…

In these four years Oscar had been rather busy…Not only did she wanted to change the future events, but she also wanted to forget about count Fersen, so she engaged herself- and André- into all sorts of tasks…Doing everything for others she tried to forget to think about Fersen and her unrequited love for him…

After the incident in Arras, Oscar- together with André- had tried to do her best to alter the future. She had tried her best to convince the queen to change, but she had only caused irritation, so she had finally given up…Was the incident with the Duke de Guéménée only thing she had accomplished? If so, everything she had seen in her nightmare was going to come true…She started to be desperate…

Because Oscar had tried to intervene the queen's affairs, she had now problems with Madame de Polignac…that is, even more problems than in her nightmare…Despite of Oscar´s efforts, she had not succeeded in separating the queen from Madame de Polignac, who had introduced Her Majesty to gambling. Furthermore, with her constant interference, Oscar had made a new enemy…An enemy, who wanted Oscar dead…

One day in Versailles Oscar and André were walking down the stairs. Oscar was walking ahead of André, who followed her silently right behind her…Then, all of a sudden one of the chandeliers started to fall…Oscar was in her thoughts and had forgotten about that incident, but luckily André saw the falling chandelier…

André:"Oscar!" He shouted trying to warn her.

After hearing André yelling, Oscar remembered the chandelier. She didn´t have time to do anything, but to look at it. André rushed to her and pushed her to safety. They went rolling down the stairs; while the huge chandelier hit the stairs…the heave weight of the chandelier would have crushed her…

Everyone went to look if Oscar and André were all rigth. Soon the two got up from the floor and André asked her if she was all right.

Oscar:"Yeah, but…" then she saw Lady Antoinette together with Madame de Polignag looking at her…The queen and her companion were both standing on the second floor looking down. The queen looked upset, but the look on Madame de Polignac´s face told Oscar everything…Oscar knew it was Madame de Polignac, who had tried to kill her…

Oscar had to be careful, but at the same time she wanted to catch the Madame in the act…

That same evening Oscar was resting in her mansion…

Suddenly an urgent messenger from the queen came to Oscar that evening. Oscar was with Rosalie, who was now living under the same roof as Oscar, when the message arrived…The message said that Oscar had to go to the Versailles at once.

Oscar:"What can it be, at this late hour? All right, please forward the message that I´ll come immediately."

Messenger:"Yes, Ma´am."

Then he the messenger left leaving Oscar alone again with Rosalie.

Rosalie:"Lady Oscar, please don´t go. You´ve promised that you´d look at my grammar." she was disappointed.

Rosalie had come to live with Oscar, when they met again. Rosalie had lost her mother and wanted to revenge her death. She had mistaken Oscar´s mother for that person, but luckily Oscar stopped her in time. After hearing Rosalie´s awful story Oscar had promised to help her…

Oscar:"Rosalie, I´m sorry, but this is my job."

Rosalie:"I'm sorry, lady Oscar. Of course…"

Rosalie was about to continue, but Oscar was rather busy. She had to get into the carriage as soon as possible. And soon the carriage took off...

Oscar was sitting inside the carriage and watched the scenery. Even in dark, she could tell that the road the carriage had taken didn´t lead to Versailles. The carriage started to slow down…When Oscar look outside, she saw a man running around. Something weird was going on…

Suddenly, someone thrust a sword inside trying to hit her. So she kicked the door open and the man fell on the ground. But the man wasn´t alone, there were quite many men to ambush her.

Oscar stepped outside and said her name. She then asked who was attacking her…She didn´t get a reply…

Man:"Don´t bother, go!"

Oscar:"André!" she yelled and took her sword from scabbard.

That was a sign for André to come for her aid. He had masked himself as the driver and now he jumped from his seat, took his sword and confronted the men, who had ambushed Oscar. They engaged themselves in a fierce battle; they both had more than enough opponents to fight with. Oscar defeated one, but two attacked her just afterwards…André had two men against him…this wasn´t going to be an easy battle…

André had disarmed the other man, but was still fighting against the other and Oscar had two opponents, when suddenly a carriage arrived…It was Hans Axel von Fersen. He looked out and saw his friends in trouble, so he ran to help them. He took his sword and started to fight with the men, who had attacked Oscar.

Soon, they had beaten all the men. Oscar went to one of the men and punched him. Then she took his scarf off of his face. She wasn´t surprised, when she saw him…It was no other than Madame de Polignac´s brother. That was reason enough to pay her a visit. She was the one behind this ambush.

Fersen:"Let´s take my carriage."

Which they did. First they rushed to get few soldiers and then went straight to Madame de Polignac, who was in her mansion with her daughter Charlotte at that moment.

Madame:"Lady Oscar! Well, this is a surprise!"

Oscar:"I´m sure it is! You didn´t expect me to win them, did you?"

Madame:"What an Earth are you talking about?"

Oscar:"You just tried to kill me!" she yelled angrily and then turned to the guards, she had taken along. "Arrest her."

Madame:"What?!"

"You can´t do this!" Madame de Polignac yelled, while she was taken away.

Oscar:"Thank you, Fersen. Thank you for helping us."

Fersen:"It was my pleasure. "

André:"What were you doing there anyway?" he was curious.

Fersen:"I was coming to visit Oscar."

"I see…she didn´t tell me anything about that…" André thought and looked a bit down.

Fersen:"I must be going. Oscar, I´ll pay you a visit any day soon. Au revoir!"

Oscar:"Au revoir, Fersen."

Then Oscar remembered Charlotte. The girl had been in shock the whole time and just stood still without saying anything. "Poor Charlotte" Oscar thought and went to her.

Charlotte:"What is going on? Where did you take my mother?" she asked still shivering.

Oscar:"She did something terrible and she´s going to have to account to her actions."

Charlotte:"What will happen to me?" she was still in shock.

Oscar:"My mother has a lady friend, who has lost her own daughter recently. She would love to take you in to live with her, if that´s okay with you."

Charlotte nodded. "Lady Oscar!" she yelled and rushed into Oscar´s arms, weeping.

Oscar:"Let´s go. We´ll take you to your new home."

As they walked out, André asked Oscar, whether she knew about Fersen´s plans.

André:"Is he going to see Her Majesty?"

Oscar:"I don´t know." She said and then became quiet. She thought about Fersen…She was happy to see him after all those years and she was looking forward to his visit.

Few weeks later…

Madame de Polignac was found guilty of attempted plotting against the High Commander of the Royal Guard and sentenced to death. Charlotte was adopted into a new family and was now living a happy life of a young lady.

But even after the sentence, gossip about Madame de Polignac´s close relationship with the queen started to circulate…

To be continued…


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: The tragic loves that binds us

A week had passed since the arrest of Madame de Polignac. Oscar was visiting the queen once more. They were talking, when Fersen showed up and the queen was…happy, as always, when seeing count Fersen. They talked for a while, but then Fersen asked Oscar if she could talk with him. He had something on his mind that he needed to talk with Oscar…He took her to a place, where they could talk privately…He confessed Oscar, that he was in France looking for a wife-to-be.

Oscar:"Marry?" she asked him.

Fersen:"Yes. I´ve come to France this time, because my father sent me to find a wife…" he continued his story, talking about a young aristocratic woman he had in mind…

Oscar listened to Fersen, while he told Oscar about the woman in question. He had never seen her, but knew quite a lot about her.

Oscar:"Are you going to marry her even though you´re not in love with her, Fersen?"

Fersen:"So, then, Oscar. You can only marry if you´re in love? Answer me, Oscar." He then grabbed her shoulders and shook her.

After a moment of silence, Oscar said:"Yes. I would never marry someone I don´t love. Not only would I be unhappy, but I would make the person I would marry unhappy, too."

Fersen:"Because of the person would be in love with you…Suffering from unrequited love?"

"Unrequited love…unrequited love…" the words make Oscar think of André and his feelings towards her… How she hated the fact that she was hurting him…

Fersen let go off her, because he was shocked by her answer. "Is that what you feel towards me, Oscar? …unrequited love?" he thought.

Oscar:"Fersen, whatever you decide to do, please don´t tell Her Majesty. She would only get upset."

Then Oscar tried to convince him to leave France for good, but he didn´t listen…he didn´t listen even the warning about not telling the queen about his intentions of marrying…Oscar´s words were all in vain…

Fersen later told the queen about his intentions of marrying and thus upsetting her…The queen was so upset, that Oscar decide to encounter him…And asked him, why he had hurt lady Antoinette…when Oscar asked him the reason, he confessed that he was in love with Lady Antoinette and that he knew it was wrong…

Few days later Oscar was sitting in her room by the fire. She was drinking red wine and thinking about Fersen. She had failed her mission; she hadn´t been able to change the events about the queen. And that wasn´t the only time. It seemed more and more likely that the Revolution was going to happen after all…

She was troubled thinking about the poor people…But that wasn´t the only concern that night; she was also in emotional pain. She was thinking about Fersen…"If they would be allowed to love, what wonderful lovers they would be." she paused for a while:"But you…What about you, Oscar?"

Her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden knock on the door. "André, come in." She said. It was André all right, carrying a tray of hot chocolate.

Oscar was positively surprised:"André! How did you know I wanted chocolate?!"

He put the tray on the table and said:" you´ve been down lately, so I thought bringing you some chocolate would cheer you up a little."

Oscar:"Thank you, André."

André smiled and was ready to leave "good night, Oscar" he said heading towards the door.

Oscar:"André."

He stood still and listened.

Oscar:"Get yourself a glass and drink with me."

So he stayed. Oscar confessed her concern about the current events and he listened carefully…

Hans Axel von Fersen decided not to wed, but instead did something, which would make the queen even less and less popular amongst the people... Oscar hadn´t been able to stop Madame de Polignac´s schemes and it seemed that she couldn´t stop Fersen and the queens' passion for each other…All of which made the queen more and more unpopular and finally would lead into a catastrophe…

The queen and Fersen started an affair, and soon the rumors about the queen and her lover began to spread. Everybody knew that their "illicit" love flared up every night at Versailles. After Fersen´s visit, Oscar and André were talking about that…

André:"…Why did he fall into such a painful love? What´s so painful about loving and been loved? There are plenty of loves that cannot be even confessed." He was thinking about himself…He could never tell Oscar how much he loved her…He had no idea, that she knew already…

That was enough for Oscar. She didn´t want him to continue anymore...The conversation was going into a wrong direction and she was afraid that André would confess his feelings for her…

Oscar:"Take a sword, André. In the back yard. André, I won´t go easy on you today!"

André:"Fine. That´s the way I want it too, Oscar!"

They had a fierce fencing; they both were letting out some steam…"Oscar! Forget about Fersen!...No, I want you forget about Fersen, please." André thought, but she couldn´t…

As the love affair between the queen and Fersen continued, Oscar tried to persuade Her Majesty to stop it. But instead, she ended up being the queen´s messenger. One night she even delivered a message to Fersen from the queen herself. It was that night, when Fersen started to realize, how deep Oscar´s feelings for him were…

The tragic love affair between the queen and count Fersen would end up miserably, but what about the tragic love between Oscar and André? By this time; the queen, Fersen and Oscar were all suffering because of love. But they weren`t the only ones; André, too, was suffering; He had loved Oscar for a very long time, longer than most people could and he loved Oscar knowing that there was no hope of her returning his feelings…

That night, André was waiting for Oscar to come back home. It was raining heavily, but he waited for her nevertheless. When she rode towards him, he put a cloak on her shoulders. "Oscar, you shouldn´t be out in the rain like this." He said and smiled…He was always looking after her. Then they rode home together.

André had no idea, what Oscar had seen in her nightmare; he had no idea, that she had finally fell in love with him and that they had spent one night of passion together. Oscar had never told him about that part, she just couldn´t.

Now that Oscar had a chance to change things…What would happen to their "wedding night"? Would she even fall in love with him? At least, for now, she was in love with Fersen…How could she ever fall in love with a man, who she considered as her brother?

But then, something happened…Late one night, when she was going to her room, she heard noises coming from André´s room. It sounded like something or someone had fallen, so she ran to his room and opened the door. She thought André may have hurt himself…

Her eyes widened, when she saw him…half naked in the middle of his room. He was in the middle of changing his clothes. His chair had fallen and that was the cause of the noise she heard. But she wasn´t looking at that, she was looking at André´s bare chest…His chest was…amazing…so manly…

Oscar closed the door fast behind her and ran to her room. She hadn´t said a word to him. All she could think was his bare chest…Suddenly she blushed all over…"That chest…" she thought…"I used to be able to bury my head there…I used to be so calm…"

Oscar:"What is happening to me?!" she wondered.

To be continued…


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: The turning point

France had joined the war in America in 1778 and was now helping the Americans with their fight for independence. Expeditions with volunteer soldiers were sent there. Also Hans Axel von Fersen had volunteered to go to America to fight…

Two years had passed since Fersen had gone to America…The queen had had two children since then and had moved away from Versailles to Trianon living an isolated life. She was now refusing to give audiences, and despite of Oscar´s countless advices, she hadn´t changed her mind. All she wanted to do was to play with her children. Now, even the nobles started to get tired of her…And soon, with the Affair of the Diamond Necklace, her reputation would suffer even more…

Oscar had spent more and more time with André and Rosalie. The time they had spent together had seemed very happy. Oscar wasn´t worried about Fersen, because she knew he was going to come back alive. So, instead of worrying, she had allowed herself some happiness…

Oscar, André and Rosalie had lived a while in the Jarjayes` manor in Normandy…They had gone for riding many times on the beach…Oscar had enjoyed it so much, that she insisted on going there again, even her horse Caesar was injured. André had offered her a ride on his horse…"There´s always room for the two of us" he had convinced Oscar. So they had gone for a ride; Rosalie had her own horse, while Oscar and André rode on his horse.

While they three spent time in the de Jarjayes´ seaside manor in Normandy, they had encountered Jeanne, who would soon cause so much trouble…

But now Occar and her friends were back at the de Jarjayes` manor…

Now, Oscar was spending her time with André at their home. England had finally recognized America´s independence and they were talking about that…

André:"England has finally recognized America´s independence. The Expeditionary forces are starting to come back to Paris. I thought I´d let you know just in case." He started to walk towards the door. "Good night, Oscar."

Oscar:"André."

He stopped and listened.

Oscar:"I´ll go to the Trianon and offer my opinion to Her Majesty once more…"

He turned around and looked at her, she seems to be worried.

Oscar:"André. I don't think I can do anything for France, for our people or the queen…I can´t stop things from happening…"

André:"It´s okay, Oscar. You´ve tried your best. It seems like this is out of your control…" he tried to comfort her.

Oscar:"That´s not enough…André, when the Revolution starts…" she didn´t get to finish her sentence, when he interrupted her.

André:"I´ll be by your side, Oscar. I´ll follow you wherever you go, just as I always have…"

Oscar:"André..." she smiled and then continued:"After I´ve come back from Trianon, take me to any bar you´d like in Paris. "

André smiled…"Okay!"

Later in Paris…

Oscar and André had gone for drinks in a local bar. They were sitting around a table…They wanted to celebrate America´s independence and the return of expeditionary groups. They both had large pint of beer and they seemed to pour the drink down their throats quite fast…

André:" It´s a good idea to get drunk once in a while…" then he thought about Fersen and he became jealous, because he thought that Oscar was celebrating him and his return…

André turned towards Oscar…He wanted to know…"Oscar, will you see him soon?"

Oscar:"What are you saying? Talking about what? You suddenly…" she didn´t have time to finish her sentence, when a man came to her…

Man:"Yo, Monsieur. You really toss it down?" then he offered her some wine, but she refused.

Man:"Hey, my wine´s not good enough for you?"

André got up and tried to calm things down:"Hey, hey, monsieur. I´ll have it instead."

Man:"I´m not talking to you!" he shouted at André and then looked at Oscar…"Wow, the more I look at you, the more amazing you look! What a beautiful soldier. Even Zeus would drool. Now, drink, beautiful one." he said and grabbed her head.

André knew that soon Oscar would burst…he looked at Oscar…"Don´t, Oscar!" he yelled, while Oscar hit the man…

Oscar:"A beautiful soldier?! Hah! If you lay your greasy paws on me again, I´ll re-arrange the features of your face." she was angry.

Then she noticed Robespierre and they exchanged a few words, which proved to be a mistake, because Robespierre said her name and rank, so that everybody in the bar heard them… and now everybody knew that Oscar was a noble...And they hated nobles…

"He is a noble! What is he doing here?! Let´s drag him out of here and beat him up!" the men in the bar yelled.

Oscar:"Give it a try then. Let´s see if you can!"

André was worried, because there were too many of them against just the two of them…"No! Stop it, Oscar!" he tried to stop her, but it was too late.

Oscar had started a fight, of which consequences would lead to their true fate, hers and his... The fate she had tried to avoid…

Eventually they were thrown out of the bar and laid on the pavement. She was lying there silently…

André:"Oscar! You are dead drunk?!" he asked her, but she didn´t reply. Then he lifted her up. He would have taken a carriage, but then he noticed that his purse was stolen. He then took Oscar into his arms and started to carry her home…

"Poor Oscar…" he looked at her and thought "How painful it must be for you…No matter what you are dressed in, you are without a question a woman. Sometimes, it must be difficult for you to bear this burden alone…" After saying those words André had a sudden, keen desire…he needed to kiss her…"Only this one time…" he thought and pressed his lips against hers. He gave her a warm and passionate kiss.

André thought that Oscar was out cold and wouldn´t know anything, but he was wrong…She felt his passionate, yet gentle kiss on her lips…and when it was over, she smiled mildly while shedding tears…

André:"The stars are beautiful…I will take you home carrying like this until dawn."

As André walked towards their home, two men were watching him. They had some shady plans…

Man:"Well, well! Look at that! It looks like tailing those two has finally bear some fruit! Let´s go and tell Duke de Guéménée about the High Commander of the Royal Guards and her "servant"! They seem to have rather unusual relationship; kisses and hugs…If they have an illicit love affair; it is the Duke´s duty to bring it out! And once that happens, she and her family are ruined!"

"And he will never get another job, when people find out, that he is sleeping with his master!" the other man laughed. "No one will hire him!"

The two men continued to laugh…They were willing to do anything to ruin the relationship between Oscar François and the queen…Also Oscar´s reputation was at stake…

To be continued…


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Nasty rumors circulating

The year of 1785 was particularly bad for the queen; August 15 th, was the beginning of the infamous "Affair of the Diamond Necklace" in French criminal history…

It all had started, when a jeweler Boehmer tried to sell the diamond necklace made for Madame Du Barry to Her Majesty Marie Antoinette. But Lady Antoinette had turned him down. So, Boehmer had turned to Jeanne Valois for help. Jeanne, who pretended to be Countess de la Motte, had convinced Cardinal de Rohan that Her Majesty had wanted the Necklace and had asked de Rohan to be the guarantor. So, the deal was made and the necklace was bought from the jeweler…

But, instead of delivering the necklace to the queen, Jeanne had separated the diamonds and had sent her husband Nicholas to England to sell them. When Boehmer started demanding payment for the necklace, the con was revealed…

People involved in the Affair of the Diamond Necklace, except for Nicolas de la Motte, were all arrested to be tried on charges of forging official documents, theft, fraud, and contempt of the royal family.

Although Oscar had tried to find Nicholas and bring the necklace back, she was never able to find him. It was as someone had tipped him off. But who? Oscar had, for a while now, felt that someone was watching them, both herself and André…But who? And why?… Nevertheless, Oscar had to concentrate on how the Affair of the Diamond Necklace was presented in the court…

Paris High Court, even the royal family could not interfere inside…

Oscar, André and Rosalie were all among the crowd, and they followed the trial intensely…Rosalie had come to see, what was happening to her sister Jeanne…Even thought, they weren´t close, Jeanne was still her sister.

There were many accused in front of the judge, but the main character was definitely Jeanne. It was a tiresome process in all, but eventually Jeanne confessed…

Jeanne:"I truly regret that I caused Cardinal de Rohan so much trouble. The Cardinal was merely manipulated by my husband and I. But that was only because I was asked to do so…" Then she accused of Her Majesty of being the main architecture of this unfortunate event…"Her Majesty loved me…in a lesbian fashion…"

Everyone in the courtroom was surprised and the judge wanted Jeanne to prove her accusations against the queen…Which she did in her own way…She continued telling, how close Madame de Polignac had been to the queen…She then mentioned Oscar´s name…

When Jeanne mentioned Oscar´s name among the queens lovers, Oscar was ready to pull out her sword, but André stopped her. "Calm down, Oscar, this is a court."

But that wasn´t the only rumors about Oscar that were circulating. There were rumors suggesting the love affair between her and her servant. Even her father had heard those rumors, and was very concerned. He was speaking with André´s grandma in de Jarjayes´ manor…

General:" I can´t believe this!" he yelled "And I trusted André! And what did he do?! He used his position wrong!"

Nanny:"I´m certain that those rumors aren´t true! My grandson would never touch our precious Madamoiselle."

General:"Are you so sure? They have always been together and…" he looked at her suspiciously.

Nanny:"No! It can´t be true!" she interrupted "I´ll beat the tar out of that idiot grandson of mine! I´ll teach him a lesson that he´ll never forget! Letting nasty rumors about our Mademoiselle circulating…He´s the one to blame!"

General:"All right! Let´s wait for them and …

When Oscar, André and Rosalie finally returned home, Oscar and André were called to see the General…As soon as they walked into his room, they could tell that something was wrong…

Oscar:"Father…"

He gave them a picture of Oscar and André in a very intimate situation…"Look at this shit! Is it true?! Oscar! Answer me! How come these pictures of my daughter is circulating everywhere?!"

André looked at the picture and started to turn it. He didn´t exactly knew, which way was up. "Is that you, Oscar?" He grinned…He was certainly interested in that picture…

Oscar took the picture from André and looked at it. She was quite calm.

General:"Well?!I am still waiting! What do you have for excuses?!"

Oscar:"Whoever drew that picture, isn´t very good. She then looked at it again. "My shoulders aren´t like that, also my…"

General:"Is that all you have to say?!You have disgraced our family´s good name!"

Oscar:"I have done nothing of the sort! Everyone can tell that it's a fake!"

André took the picture again and took another look at it."You´re right, it´s a fake. I don´t have that kind of a stomach…"

Then Nanny came with a kettle and started to hit André with it. "You no good grandson! You moron! Idiot!" she yelled and took the picture from him "you pervert!" From her point of view, André was far too interested in that picture…It wasn´t decent to even look at it.

While Nanny was chasing André around the room and beating him, Oscar continued talking with her father.

Oscar:"I don´t know, who is behind this. But I know that this person has some grudge against me. I can assure you that none of these accusations about me and André are true. I´m going to find out the source of these preposterous rumors and…"

André:"Grandma! OUCH! Don´t hit me!"

General:"I´ve decided to find André another job, somewhere faraway from here."

Nanny:"Why you! You! Idiot!"

"What?!" André stopped…he couldn´t believe his ears. The general was going to send him away?

Oscar:"But father…"

General:"No buts! I´ve already decided!"

André was horrified. He didn´t want to go anywhere…He didn´t want to leave Oscar.

Oscar:"Think father, if you do that…Doesn´t it mean that you actually admit that the rumors are true?!"

General:"I…guess so…Fine, he can stay."

Oscar:"I´m sure that when time goes by, everyone will just forget about it. Meanwhile, we should as normal."

General:"All right. BUT! Oscar, if I ever find out that the rumors are true, then I´ll kill you both!"

Oscar:"Do that. André, let´s go."

They walked to her room and closed the door behind, so that no one could hear them.

André:"You never told me about this, Oscar. You could have warned me."

Oscar:"I couldn´t tell you…"

André:"Who is behind this? You know."

Oscar:"André, I don't know. I couldn´t have told you, because I didn´t know it either. This is something new to me, too."

André:"What?! You mean…"

Oscar:"This event never happened before."

André:"You mean that because we changed the course of events, it triggered this event right now?"

Oscar:"Yes… that must have happened. André, we have an enemy."

André:"Duke de Guéménée! I´m certain of it!"

Oscar:"I believe you are right, but we don´t neither have the evidence to prove that nor time to solve it. We have to concentrate on the matters that concern the whole France…"

André:"But, Oscar! What about your reputation, your career…"

Oscar:"I don´t care about my reputation. What comes to my career…I will leave my place at the Royal Guards someday anyway, so it might as well happen sooner."

André:"Oscar."

Oscar:"What about your reputation, André?"

André:"I don´t care about that."

Then, all of a sudden, Oscar started to laugh:"That picture of us was so funny!"

André joined her laughter "It was! He didn't even know how to draw us right!"

To be continued…


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Oscar, Time to leave the Royal Guards

May 31 st, 1786 the sentences were given: Cardinal de Rohan was announced innocent, while Jeanne Valois was sentenced to prison. Also, Jeanne´s husband was given a sentence in absent.

Jeanne Valois were marked "V" on her skin, so that everyone knew she was a thief. Afterwards she was thrown to the prison. But soon she escaped from there and began to write her Memoirs that proved to be success. Everyone bought those, even André…

André:"The Memoirs of Jeanne Valois Volume 1…" he started to read the book while Oscar watched out of the window and listened…"A Commentary on the Scandal of Marie Antoinette Part 1, the catalog of the queen´s lovers. Wow, look at this."A Beauty in Male Attire, Colonel Oscar François de Jarjeyes." You´re listed right after Madame de Polignac. Jeanne Valois…She´s really done it."

At the same time Rosalie came and took the book away from André. "I´m sorry, lady Oscar!" she yelled and ran away.

Oscar:"Rosalie! Wait!" she turned and yelled.

Rosalie came back.

Oscar:"Rosalie, there´s something I need to talk to you about."

Rosalie:"What is it, lady Oscar?"

Oscar went closer to her and smiled:"I think it´s time for you to find your own happiness…"

Rosalie:"But, lady Oscar!"

Oscar:"Rosalie, listen to me. It´s been wonderful having you here. You are a very dear friend of ours…but I know you; you´ve been born and raised in the city of Paris, the only place you truly feel happy in. I think it´s the right time for you to have your own home there."

Rosalie:"Lady Oscar! Did I do something wrong?"

Oscar:"No, Rosalie. I´m thinking of you. Frankly speaking, it´s getting rather difficult here with all these rumors and all…I don´t want you to get involved."

André:"Rosalie, she´s right." he rose from his chair and walked next to Oscar.

Oscar:"I´ll give you enough money to buy yourself a home."

André:"Don´t worry, we´ll come to visit you."

Rosalie:"Promise?"

Oscar:"We promise."

Rosalie broke into tears and rushed into Oscar´s arm."I´ll miss you!"

Oscar:"We´ll miss you, too." she smiled.

Rosalie:"Is it true of what people say about you? Are you two lovers? You seem so close."

Oscar didn´t know what to reply…She was turning red…Why? Why was she feeling so…weird? It was just a simply question. So, how come she couldn´t answer it? There was a moment of silence…Rosalie noticed the situation and changed the subject…

Rosalie:"All right. I´d better go and start packing."

Then she left leaving Oscar and André alone.

Oscar:"It´s best for her. I know she´ll be much happier in Paris. Besides, soon she´ll meet her future husband, again!" she laughed.

Few days later Oscar and André were standing by the front entrance of their home waving Rosalie goodbye. They watched while her carriage disappeared in the horizon.

Oscar:"André, remember that oak tree and our buried treasures? Let´s dig them up."

André:"Why?!"

Oscar."Because there´s something I´d like to add there." she smiled.

So they went to the oak tree, where she cut a curl from them both and tied those together with a ribbon. Meanwhile André dug their buried treasures up. Then they started to talk about their childhood days…"Remember the first time you tasted hot chocolate? You almost burned your tongue!" Oscar laughed.

André:"You didn´t tell me that it was so hot!"

Oscar:"You´ve always been such a glutton!" she laughed.

Then she put their curls into the box together with their other treasures…After she had placed the box into hole and was taking her hand away, André grabbed it.

André:"What´s going on, Oscar?" there was something bothering Oscar and he wanted to know, what.

Oscar:"Nothing."

Then she looked at him into his eyes. He could see a tear in her blue sapphire eye. But she didn´t pay attention to him …She was miles away…She was memorizing the moment of his death. Suddenly, she rushed into his arms and cried…"Oscar…"André said in soft voice. Oscar was always welcome there, in his arms. He wanted to comfort her.

Oscar:"André, I´m scared…of the future." she cried.

They thought that they were alone, but there was an extra pair of eyes…Soon, the queen found out about this sensitive moment that was meant to be private…

Later in Versailles…

Oscar and André were walking to see the queen…

André:" I wonder, what was the urgent matter that she wish to see you?"

Oscar:"We´ll find out soon, André."

Then they stopped…"André, you stay here." she told him and went inside to meet Her Majesty. The queen told Oscar about the rumors that were circulating…

Queen:"Is those rumors true? You´ve been seen kissing and embracing…Please, tell me, Oscar. Those rumors are not true?"

Oscar:"Your Highness, It is true that we´ve been kissing and hugging and many times I´ve been in his embrace."

Queen:"So, it´s all true then; you´re lovers."

Oscar:"Those pictures circulating…those are not true. And we are not lovers."

Queen:"But what is it, then?!Why you´ve been kissing?"

Oscar:"…" she was starting to turn red again.

Queen:"Do you love him?"

Oscar was astounded by that question…

Oscar:"I don´t know…I´ve never thought of him like that. Just as my brother…No, maybe more than a brother…We´ve shared happiness, sadness, everything in our youth…Our souls grew so close together that I never noticed…"

Queen shed tears…She knew exactly, what Oscar was going through…

Queen:"I see. It must be difficult for you, being born in different positions…"

Oscar:"Your Highness, please. Give me my sentence."

Queen:"But Oscar…"

Oscar:"I know that Your Majesty has own problems and don´t need someone with bad reputation by Her side. It would further damage your own reputation, so I beg you, punish me."

Queen:"All right, Oscar. I…You are suspended from your position in the Royal Guards, at least for now. I´ll give your job to Girodère."

Oscar:"Thank you, Your Highness."

Queen:"Oscar, please. Sort your personal matters soon, so that you can come back."

Oscar promised to do that, even if she knew, it was not possible; She would never come back to the Royal Guards…

André was waiting for her…

André:"Oscar, what did Her Majesty want?"

Oscar smiled:"She suspended me from my position."

André:"What?! Why?! How could she do something like that?!"

Oscar:"I asked her to. She had heard rumors about us…"

André:"I´m sorry…"

Oscar:"Don´t be. It´s about time for me to get some distance from Her Majesty. That way, it will not be so difficult, when we say goodbye."

André didn't say anything, he was thinking about Oscar…"My Oscar…There is still something that bothers you. Why won´t you tell me, so that I could help you. Please, Oscar, don´t carry that burden alone…" he thought.

Oscar was confused. There was something different about her, but she didn´t know what. She had began to change somehow…That kiss from André a long time ago…she couldn´t stop thinking about it…It felt so passionate and pliant…"No" she thought. She had to stop thinking about it and concentrate on their next mission.

Oscar:"André, I´ve made up my mind. We´ll save Jeanne."

André was confused:"But, Oscar! She´s the one who spread those nasty rumors about you!"

Oscar:"It doesn´t matter anymore. Personally, I don´t like Jeanne at all, but…the people are all on her side. That´s why we have to do it. Girodère is taking my place, and that means that he´ll be the one to catch Jeanne. I know that Girodère will do exactly what he is told to, like a Marionette…I will not let Jeanne fall into his hands!"

André:"All right, Oscar…" he smiled…He would do anything for her…

To be continued…


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: An explosion at a distant monastery

Dusk had already fallen, when Oscar and André rode into a huge forest. This time André was leading, because he knew the way. They went deep inside the forest and after riding for a while, they stopped. They got off the horses and tied them to a nearby tree.

Oscar:"André, are you sure this is it?" She looked around and saw nothing that would remind her of a door.

André:"Yes, Oscar. I´ve checked this place the night before. Come…" he took her hand.

He then led Oscar to an entrance that was carefully concealed and opened the door. Oscar lighted a fire in a lantern and was ready to step inside, when André stopped her…

André:"Oscar, I know there´s something that bothers you. Why don´t you tell me what it is."

Oscar looked at him: "Yes, I should tell you." she then paused for a second…" Right after we´ve saved Jeanne."

They both entered the secret passageway to the Monastery, where Jeanne and Nicolas were hiding. They advanced slowly forward to the monastery…

André:"The monks built there tunnels under the forest centuries ago. They wanted to get in and out of the monastery without anyone noticing. It´s our luck that these tunnels are in such a good condition." he said to Oscar.

Meanwhile in the Monastery Jeanne had been drinking heavily and was now walking along its many corridors. Feeling exhausted, she leaned towards a wall, when suddenly Nicolas came to her looking worried…

Nicolas:"J-Jeanne! Come here!" he was nervous.

Jeanne:"What? What´s the matter?"

Nicolas:"There´s something strange going on outside."

When they looked out of the window, they saw the Royal Guards platoon…The platoon was aiming weapons at the monastery…

Nicolas:"I-It´s the Royal Guards! Damn, we´re completely surrounded!"

They heard voice talking to them: "Jeanne Valois! Nicolas de la Motte! " It was Gerodère talking…" I am Colonel Gerodère! You are completely surrounded! Turn yourself in! If you don´t come out within 7 minutes, we will open the fire, charge into the Monastery and take you by force!"

Nicolas:"Did you hear that?"he panicked.

Jeanne:"Yes, but…Shouldn´t it be Oscar François de Jarjayes there? She´s the commander…Where is she?"

Oscar:"I´m right here!"

They turned to look…They were surprised by her sudden appearance…It was Oscar all right, holding a pistol in her hand…

Jeanne:"So you used the secret passageway…How clever."

Nicolas:"What?! There is a secret passageway?! Why didn't you tell me?!"

Jeanne:"I didn´t think it was important."

Nicolas got angry and wanted to attack Oscar, but Jeanne stopped him…

Jeanne:"Don´t panic. Act like a man. When it comes to this, what will be will be." Then she walked to the fireplace and took a drink.

Oscar:"Nicolas, if you try anything, anything at all…I´ll shoot you."

Jeanne:"You heard her, Nicolas. Just relax, soon this will all be over."

Then Oscar put her pistol away and started to reason with Jeanne…

Oscar:"Come with me. If you need to change your dress, I can wait."

Jeanne:"Did…Did Rosalie tell you about this place?"

Oscar:"Not Rosalie, I swear."

Jeanne:"I see, I´m glad to hear that. I still had an ally. At least one for someone like me. someone I can trust…I´m really glad…" She shed a tear.

Then, all of a sudden, Nicolas took his rifle into his hands and aimed at Oscar…She turned around…

André:"Hold it right there!" he had come out of hiding.

It was André holding a rifle in his hands and pointing at Nicolas, who then threw his gun away…

Nicolas:"Where the hell did you come from?!"

Jeanne:" Nicolas, you idiot! You forgot totally about her lover."

André was still pointing his rifle at Nicolas, while Oscar talked to Jeanne…

Oscar:"I know the way out of here without anyone seeing. Come, we´ll escort you to safety."

Jeanne:"Why are you doing this?!"

Nicolas:"Hey! That´s our chance!"

Jeanne:"Not so fast! She might have some tricks…After all; she is the Commander of the Royal Guards. "

Oscar:"Not anymore. I´ve been suspended. I came here to help you. I don´t want you to get caught…"

Jeanne:"Why?"

Oscar:"It´s because of Rosalie. She would never be truly happy if she knew that her sister had died…And for what? You have made yourself popular among the people, who are mostly commoners. You are their heroine, and if something bad would happen to their heroine…"

Jeanne stopped her:"I´ve had enough. I´m sort of tired of everything."

Jeanne had planned to die there in the monastery together with Nicolas, that´s why she hadn´t told Nicolas about the secret passageway… but now…Maybe there was a way to get out of all this after all...

Oscar:"I can help you to flee, you can go abroad and start a new life. That would make the public happy…"

Nicolas:"Jeanne! She´s our only chance! Let´s take it!"

Jeanne:"All right…"

André:"We´d better hurry. I heard them talking about seven minutes…"

Oscar:"All right, this way!" she led the way to the secret passageway…

Meanwhile outside the Monastery, seven minutes had passed and the soldiers opened the fire…

There were barrels full of gunpowder in the Monastery, just near the window. And when the bullets hit it, the sparks started to do the trick; soon, the whole Monastery would blow up…

Meanwhile Oscar and André were escorting the couple out of the Monastery…

Then, suddenly…They heard a loud noise…

BOOM!

The Monastery blew up…

André took a hold of Oscar in order to protect her with his own body. They fell to the floor of the passageway…

André:"Oscar, are you all right?"

Oscar:"I´m fine."

He was on top of her, and suddenly felt strong desire to kiss her…"Oscar…It´s getting harder and harder…Am I being selfish…? love piles up over my body…I´ve been holding myself back for so long…I´ve stifled my burning passion…If I extended my hand, I´m sure I would end up embracing you! I would steal your lips!" he thought…

Oscar felt strange, too…"Why does my whole body feel so hot? I feel like I´m melting…Why? His lips…are so delicious…" She thought…Her heart was beating fast.

Then, they were interrupted…

Jeanne:"We´d better move on!"

André got up and helped Oscar…

Oscar:"Right! We´ll take you to a safe place, from where you can continue yourself." She said.

They all got out of the forest and when they had come to a safe distance from the burning Monastery, it was time to say goodbye…

Jeanne:"Thank you, for everything."

Oscar:"Everybody thinks you´re dead and won´t search you. Just disguise yourself just in case… I think it´s rather safe for you to travel abroad. Just take care of yourselves!"

Jeanne:"We will. And say goodbye to Rosalie for me, will you?"

Oscar:"We will."

Then Oscar and André were waving goodbye to Jeanne and Nicolas, when Oscar finally told André about her secret…

Oscar:"André, I need to talk to you about…your eye."

André:"My eye?"

Oscar:"Something bad is about to happen and we have to prevent it…" she told him, who he would lose his left eye. He listened to her carefully…

Could Oscar prevent the incident, in which André would lose his eye, from happening?

To be continued…


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11:The moment of the truth

After 7 years away from France, Hans Axel von Fersen returned. He wanted to see his old friend, Oscar…Then one day, when Oscar and André were shooting, he just appeared.

Oscar and André had just finished the shooting practice and were ready to go home, when André took an apple into his hand. He always carried something they could eat, just in case…

André:" Hey, Oscar. Want an apple?"

Oscar:" I´ll take it."

And when André threw it into the air, someone shot it into pieces. They turned to look…It was no other than Fersen on a back of a horse. When Oscar saw him, she seemed rather happy…She was relieved, that Fersen had come back alive and well.

Oscar invited him for dinner and then to stay in her manor for a while. She wanted to catch up with the latest news from America. The evening went fast as the three of them talked…

Next morning Oscar woke up early. She went by the window as she always went, and saw Fersen in the garden. She decided to go after him; she wanted to talk with him. She wanted to ask him whether he was going to see Her Majesty.

When Oscar walked to the garden, she saw him sitting…So she sat down next to him and started to talk…

Oscar:"…Her Majesty must be worried about you, too."

Fersen:"Sooner or later, but…I intend to go back to Sweden without seeing her. Seven years ago, I ran away from Lady Antoinette. Cowardly and selfishly. And that was the end. It was a romance that had to be ended. I only stopped in France…" he stopped…

Oscar:"Why?"

Fersen:" Oscar, you are my most precious and beautiful friend…" he took her hand and continued:"I have admired you… You are both beautiful and brave and you´re not afraid of risking her life for your beliefs…."

Oscar got scared. Why was he acting like that? Where was this all going to lead?

Fersen:"Oscar, I love you! I have thought of you every day ever since I left to America…Please, marry me! You would make me the happiest man on Earth!"

She was stunned. Marry him? Isn´t that what she had always wanted? She had longed for so long to be with him and now it was possible. He had forgotten about the queen… And also, marrying Fersen and moving to north…That would solve her problem; she could go away from France before the Revolution and avoid her destiny. But she wasn´t happy…Why?

"But what about the people of France? What about my future career in French Guards and my men in Company B?" she thought…"What about…André?!" she started to feel more and more uncomfortable…The man that has been by her side since childhood…the man, who she thought as her one and only trusted friend… Now she knew that their souls had grown together. Even the thought of being apart from him, hurt her…How could she leave him? She twitched her hand from his.

Oscar:"Thank you, Fersen…but I cannot accept it."

Fersen:"What´s the matter?! We would make an ideal couple! We are both from decent families."

Oscar:"What do you mean by "we´re both from decent families"?! You mean we´re both from the same social class?! That we are both nobles?! You mean to say that a noble can´t marry a commoner?! Is that what you´re saying?!" All of a sudden she came angry…

Fersen:"Of course. God made classes for a reason! You cannot expect me to marry my chambermaid or you your…stableman!"

Oscar was shocked…What´s wrong with marrying one´s maid…or stableman? What did the word "commoner" mean to her? There has always been a huge distinction between nobles and commoners. Something that she had never really understood: Ever since she was little she had played with André and she saw nothing wrong with that. She had never treated him as if she was better than him. They were equals in every way…

Fersen:"You are thinking of André Grandier, am I right? He can be your lover, but a husband…No way!"

Oscar slapped him. "How dare you speak that way about my André!" she was furious.

Fersen:"Your…Your André? Oscar…It is André you think of."

Oscar:"Yes…He´d surely…If I were to marry another man…He would not be able to live, because he loves me so much...If he weren´t able to live…if he were unhappy…I´d also become the unhappiest person in the world…" She didn´t want to hurt him, not her André.

Fersen:"I can understand that. You love him! I knew it! It was him all along!" he smiled.

Oscar was shocked…When she looked into Fersen´s eyes, she knew…She no longer loved him, but instead…She was in love with André. She had realized everything: she must have been in love with André for some time already…He was so gentle, he had always been there for her, he loved her more than anything…and she loved him back. She loved him more than anything.

Oscar nodded…But…

Fersen:"Oscar…I knew that…from experience, you see; there´s always truth behind the rumors."

Wait a minute…Was that all just fake? Had Fersen done all that for her? Had he pretended to be in love with her and proposed to her, so that she would finally realize that the man for her was always standing by her side? She did need a kick to that direction…She laughed, when she realized that.

Fersen:"Let me give you an advice; be brave and follow your heart before it's too late. There was never hope for Her Majesty and me, but there is a little hope for you and André. Take it."

Oscar:"I´m not sure…"

Fersen:"Oscar! I mean it! You have to tell him about your feelings. Trust me, I know…It´s not so easy, but when you have done it…You feel much better. I don´t want you to suffer like I do…André is a good man, and I´m sure that he feels something towards you…"

Oscar knew André did respond to her feelings, but…No! Fersen was right, it was about to talk to André…If she would postpone it, one day she would realize that it would be too late already…

Oscar:"Thank you." she smiled.

Then André came towards them and sat beside Oscar.

Oscar:"Fersen! You should go to Her Majesty, she needs you. Be with her."

Fersen:"What do you mean?!"

André:"France…Paris had changed a lot since your parting. It´s no longer save for the nobles, let alone for the queen. There has been countless of attacks against our home…and things get even worse."

Fersen:"Is that true?!"

Oscar:"Yes. The queen is very much hated by her own people."

Fersen:"What?! How that can be?!"

Oscar:"You should go to Paris in disguise and find out. Then, please, go to Her Majesty. You are one of those persons who would never abandon her."

Fersen:"Is this goodbye?"

Oscar:"Yes, I believe it is. I can no longer be beside Her Majesty. I have my own destiny to follow." Then she looked at André…"Fersen is right, I should seize my happiness before it's too late…" she thought.

Fersen:"Good luck for you both! I hope that everything will turn out to be fine for you! Au revoir!" he got up and left.

Oscar:"Fersen, take care! Au revoir!" she got up together with André.

Oscar and André stood side by side and watched while Fersen walked away. For a while they didn´t say a word…Then Oscar started to walk towards the manor.

Oscar:"André, let´s go inside. I want you to see something."

André:"What´s that?"

Oscar:"Your grandma had insisted on me having a dress…"

André:"You in a dress?!" He was surprised…Would Oscar really wear a dress? That was something new…

Oscar:"All the trouble making it…I might as well try it on. There´s going to be a ball soon. I want you to take me there." she smiled as they walked towards the manor hand in hand.

Oscar needed…no, she wanted to confess her feeling towards André and she had decided to do it in the ball soon…She was nervous…She had to figure out the right way…

To be continued…


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: At the ball of her dreams

That night André was nervous, in fact, he never have been more nervous than tonight…He was walking around the room, because he couldn´t stay still…Distant voices echoed into his ears…The voices of his Oscar and grandma…His grandma was helping Oscar to get dressed, which wasn´t an easy task…

Nanny:"You´ve finally decided to wear a dress! I´m so happy! No, where is that corset? Oh, here it is!"

Oscar:"Ouch!" she screamed.

André:" Oscar wearing a dress?! Must be a nightmare! My Oscar…" he felt sorry for her. Her cries could be heard miles away…

Oscar:"Ah! D-don´t tie it so tightly, it hurts!" she yelled, while nanny was tighten the corset.

Nanny:"Stay still please!"

Oscar:"Stop that! This corset is like an armor!"

Nanny:"How should I tie the rope? French style? Turkish style?"

Oscar:"Anything is fine!"

Meanwhile André was thinking Oscar in a dress…

André:"With her long legs, she´ll look like a scarecrow covered with a piece of cloth!"

Then, the door opened and his grandma came in…

Nanny:"André, there you are! Look at the lady in a dress, you won´t believe your eyes."

They walked to Oscar…When he saw her, he couldn´t believe his eyes…His eyes went wide open: He had never seen anyone so beautiful…

André:"Ah." he sighed.

Oscar:"It´s very tight…I can barely walk…"

André:"B-but…You look very beautiful…" he managed to say.

Oscar:"Really? It´s not wrong if I do this just once in my life. Nanny, don´t tell my father."

Nanny:"Yes, I understand."

André: "The carriage is waiting for us, Oscar."

Oscar:"Yes…" she smiled mildly.

She was anxious…Because tonight would be the night she would confess her feelings towards him…

He offered her his arm, which she took and off they went.

Soon they arrived to the mansion, where the ball was held…

Everybody was looking at Oscar at the ball and admired her beauty. Every man in the ballroom was looking at her, when she walked with André…As they stopped; the dance had already begun… Then one man came to her and asked her to dance.

Oscar:"I´m sorry, but I´ve already promised to dance with someone."

When the man walked away, André looked around and then turned towards Oscar…

André:"Is that Fersen you are looking for? He doesn´t seem to here."

Oscar:"Yes, it seems that way…" she smiled. Oscar couldn´t say that it wasn´t Fersen she was thinking of.

On a whim André asked her to dance with him, and she said yes. They had been dancing together many times before, but not like this…He held his hand on her thin waist, and for the first time he could feel her feminine figures; her whole body was so slender and fragile…As they danced together, he felt as he was dreaming…

André:"Oscar! You´re so beautiful, like Aphrodite! Looking at you is intoxicating."

She didn´t reply, she only smiled…She was happy; she was in the arms of the man she loved, dancing with him…hearing those wonderful words from him…All that made her life worth living.

They danced couple of dances together, but then André felt that Oscar wasn´t feeling well; it was her corset wearing her down. So, he suggested that they would leave, and they did. As they stepped to the garden, Oscar walked to the fountain and took a deep breath…In the open air she could breathe more freely. André went after her, because he needed to know, why she was acting like this. Why was she wearing a dress, all of a sudden?

André:"Oscar, what happened that morning between you and Fersen?"

Oscar was surprised…She didn´t reply.

Then, André got hold of Oscar´s arms and pulled her near. Oscar could feel her heart beating fast…

André:"Oscar, did something happen?!"

Oscar smiled and nodded:"He proposed to me…"

André was shocked… he couldn´t say anything…His eyes became wet with tears…"Oscar…" he let go of her arms and stepped few steps back... He had lost…Everything would be over for him…

Oscar:"I said no." she smiled.

André was stunned…She had turned HIM down?! He wanted to ask her the reason, but he was speechless…

Oscar:"Because I don´t love him…anymore."

Those words were like golden for André. How long he had hoped for that Oscar would forget about Fersen…He smiled…A tear of happiness fell down his cheek…

André:"But, Oscar…I thought you were dressed like this because of Fersen…If it wasn´t for him, then why…" Then, a thought came into his mind…Could it be…"me? She asked me to come along…and she danced with me…" he felt sudden happiness…and his heart beat fast…

Oscar got scared; when it came to fighting and even giving her life for some reason, she wasn´t afraid…but, when it came to love, it was totally different. It was like an unexplored wilderness and that scared her.

Oscar tried to run away, but André grabbed her hand…

André:"Oscar!" he pulled her near…He had to try his luck…He couldn´t hide it anymore…He had to say it out loud:"I love you!"

Then he embraced her and kissed her. Once again she could feel the lips she had longed for…the lips she knew…She kissed him back…And their kisses were very passionate…

Then André confessed his feeling towards Oscar…

André:"Oscar…I wonder how long it´s been. Every time I see your blonde hair grazing the tip of your nose…Every time your eyes, framed by silky eyelashes the color of the night, look at Orion in the winter sky…Every time you let out a sweet sigh from those cold looking lips…" then he kissed her…After a while, he continued his confession…

André:"Something feverish always wells up inside of me. I cannot get my feelings to calm down. These past ten years, I´ve only seen you, I´ve only thought of you…I´ve never even laid my eyes on another woman. I love you! I would do anything for you!"

Oscar was crying…No one had ever said those sweet things to her…She was in his arms…holding him tight…

Oscar:"André…André…Even knowing that you loved me, I still kept on loving Fersen…I was blind…I should have realized sooner that you were the one….for me…all along…" then she looked into his eyes and asked…"Could you still love someone like me?"

André:"I love everything about you, for the rest of my life."

Oscar:"André! I love you, too! With all my heart!"

They kissed each other passionately…

By that time, everyone had come to look at the scene between Oscar and André…There was no doubt anymore about those two…

A lady was so touched by André´s confession to Oscar…that she was crying…"Ah, I wish that my husband would be more like him!" she said to another lady. "They are so sweet together!" she replied "But, I wonder, what will happen, when her father is going to find out?!" Yet another lady joined in their conversation…"As if there isn´t enough troubles already. Did you hear that the Black Knight had broken into another mansion again and stolen all the diamonds?!"

"What?! Again!" a lady got worried.

The Black Knight had caused so much grieve amongst the nobles by robbing their jewels…Soon, he would face Oscar and André…

To be continued…


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: The audience to His Majesty

Oscar and André were walking down the corridor in Versailles; they were going to meet both the king and the queen. They had requested a formal audience with the king and the queen…They had something important to ask…

That day they were rather nervous…And for a good reason, too…They had a lot at stake right now. The next few moments would decide their whole future…

André:"Oscar, are you very nervous?"

She smiled:"No, just a bit…I´ve never done this before…" she tried to smile, but she was so concentrated on her oncoming speech, that she forgot how to smile.

André:"We´re in this together, no matter how it goes." He kissed her tenderly…

They had come to the right door…now, all they had to do, was to go inside…

Oscar:"Ready?"

André smiled:"Ready."

Then they stepped inside to meet the king…They greeted both the king and the queen and then kneed down …

Queen:"Well, Oscar…You requested to see us both, so it seemed rather serious. What is on your mind?"

Oscar:" Your Majesty…" she started to talk…This was the moment…

Oscar:"I, Oscar François,…" she started…" ask the permission from Your Highness to marry André Grandier."

King:"What?! " the King was surprised…"You want to marry a commoner? I´m sure that you could have anyone, anyone you like…"

Oscar:"Thank you for your kind words, Your Highness. But there is only one man I wish to marry and that´s André Grandier."

Queen:"Are you sure you want to do this? Do you know, what that means? You could lose your status, your position in the noble society…everything, are you willing to risk that all for this man?"

Oscar:"Yes, Your Highness. I am more than willing. Without him I wouldn´t have been able to devote my life to protect you, Your Highness…" tears started to fall down on her cheeks as she continued…" Without him I would have failed my job. He has always been there for me, when I needed. He had loved me unconditionally for many years. He had never asked for anything, but always gave everything…" she was very sentimental…"I love him with all my heart. Without him I couldn´t live."…She continued her story about their time together…

Lady Antoinette was deeply touched…She had no idea, that Oscar had such a wonderful man…She started to think about Fersen. There was a man for her, but they could never be together…But…while she herself wasn´t able to be with the one she loved, she wanted Oscar to have that kind of happiness. Someone, at least, had to have that kind of happiness and why couldn´t it be Oscar? Oscar, after all, was her friend.

King was speechless; he was surprised by her overflowing story of their unique love. The queen turned over to him and said:"Please, Your Majesty… let them be together. They love each other more than anything." Then she turned towards Oscar and looked at her the way Oscar knew that there was a final blow to convince the king…

Queen:"Oscar…" it was Oscar´s turn to talk again…

Oscar started… She had one trick on her sleeve and she would use it…But would the king fall for it? At least, Oscar was going to try her best…

Oscar:"Your Highness… Think about the state that your beautiful country is, people-commoners-are commanding more and more. I´ve heard them talking about how all men are equal, nobles and commoners alike. Wouldn´t it look good in people´s eyes, that You, Your Highness, would allow a commoner to marry a noble? That would give them a sign that our beloved king is kind towards his people and treats commoners the same as nobles. Let us to be the prove of your kindness and love towards the people of France."

Queen: "Recently, there has been only bad news…Why don't we give them some good news, for change? Let them, at least once, enjoy happiness…Let´s give them wedding for change! The wedding that they are all welcomed to join!"

King:"Hmm…Yes, perhaps they would be satisfied. But, what about your father? General de Jarjayes? What would he think of all this?"

Oscar:"He will not allow me to marry André Grandier…"

Queen:"Well, then We´ll summon him to come to Versailles. He should know that the King´s word is a law! " she shouted being rather annoyed. Why would the general object his own daughter´s happiness?

King:"Yes, indeed. We order you to get married, for the sake of the people! We will arrange your wedding within few days and invite all our people to celebrate your happiness…Commoners and nobles alike!"

Oscar:"Thank you, Your Highness, we will accept your kind offer…With one condition; Let us pay the expenses." she smiled.

All this time André was listening quietly…He hardly could believe his ears…The king had given his blessing and they were free to get married. This was the day André had been dreaming about…He was so happy, that he cried.

Meanwhile at de Jarjayes manor…the general was upset. The news of the love affair between Oscar and André had reached him…He was talking…well, yelling at his wife…

General:"Your daughter is a disgrace to this family! How could she do that? Hasn´t she thought about the honor of this family?! NO!"

Mrs. Jarjayes:"What are you going to do?" she was worried about both Oscar and André. She was afraid, that her husband would do something bad to them.

General:"What I should have done a long time ago: I´ll give her to count Girodère. Then I´ll get rid of André!" he shouted.

Mrs. Jarjayes:"I just can´t believe that Oscar could have kept André as her lover! Those rumors aren´t true! You can´t give Oscar to someone just because she is a target of a nasty rumors!" she tried to convince him.

Genereal:"Well, you heard what people say! Even our closest friends saw them together, kissing! PASSIONATELY! Our family has NEVER got involved in a scandal like that! NEVER! The only way is to get her married at once!" he was so angry, that he was about to burst.

Mrs. Jarjayes:"What if she refuses to marry count Girodère?"

General:"Then I shall kill her with my own hands! That disgrace!"

Mrs. Jarjayes:"But…You can´t kill your own daughter!" to this point she had been calm, but now…She couldn´t believe, that her husband wanted to kill their own daughter.

General:"Watch me!"

Later in the evening….

When Oscar and André got back, Nanny ran into Oscar´s arms crying…"Mademoiselle!" she yelled. She was very upset…"Ah, Mademoiselle! How awful! Your father is furious and is talking about…"

Oscar:"Talking about what?"

Nanny:"He…is going to kill you!"

"What?!" they shouted.

Oscar and André were shocked…They knew something like this would come, but…they never expected that the general would really want to kill her…his own daughter!

To be continued…


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: A turbulence at de Jarjayes´manor

Oscar and André were standing in the hallway with André´s grandma, who had just told them that the general wasn´t taking the news about Oscar and André well. In fact, he threatened to kill Oscar…

Oscar."All right! This is it! I´m going to see my father." she had made up her mind…it was now or never…

André:"Oscar…"he tried to stop her…He was afraid that his master would do something terrible to Oscar…

Oscar:"André…It´s all right, don´t worry."

André:"Let me come with you, Oscar."

Oscar:"No, André…I have to do this on my own…Besides…" she looked at nanny…"You should stay here with your grandma."

André:"Oscar…"

She then kissed him gently and then went to see her father. She was rather nervous, because she knew her father´s rage….

Meanwhile nanny was scolding André…

Nanny:"André! You idiot! Look what you´ve done!" she cried "I should have never brought you into this manor!"

André:"Grandma…" he felt sorry for his grandma. He didn´t want her to suffer from this. He took her into his arms, while she was crying.

André:"It´s okay…I promise that everything will turn out to be fine." he tried to convince his grandma even though he did not know himself, what was going to happen.

Meanwhile Oscar had gone to see her father…She knocked on the door and went inside. She could instantly tell that he was furious.

Their eyes met…Oscar couldn´t say anything. She was waiting for her father to start…And he did…

General:"Oscar! You disgrace! How dare you get involved with a commoner?! A servant?!"

Oscar:"I love him, besides…André and I are equal…" she replied calmly.

General walked towards Oscar and hit her so hard, that she fell to the floor…

Not only that Oscar had got involved with their stableman, she also were quite aware of the talking of the New Era and rights, that belonged-not only to nobility-but also to the commoners…

General:"Are you listening to that nonsense?! Colonel of the Royal Guards? Our family has served the Royal family for generations and never-not even once-got involved in a scandal like this! First, you get involved with a commoner and next; you start to talk about this rubbish!" …he held out his hand" Remove your medal and rank insignia, you disgrace!"

Oscar:"Father, tell me…What´s wrong with being in love?!" tears started to fall from her eyes.

General:"This isn´t about love! This is about honor! No one in our family had never kept a lover…At least not from the third Estates! Are you abandoning the royal family? Are you dragging this family into a scandal? For a commoner?! You traitor! There´s only one way out…"

Oscar:"And what that might be?"

General:"Count Girodère had kindly offered his help. With his help, you can still avoid the scandal…You will become his wife."

She was shocked…She couldn´t believe that her father would even suggest something like that…Why would she marry a man she didn´t love…instead of a man she did love?

Oscar:"Just like that?! Without asking me?! No, father! I won´t do it!" She got up…"I do not love him!" She yelled to her father. Now she was angry.

General:"Is that your final word?!" she asked her angrily.

Oscar:"Yes. I will never marry count Girodère!"

General:"Then, you leave me no choice…There will be no traitors in this family! I will punish you myself!"

Then he took out his sword and was ready to kill his own daughter…He lifted it up high and was going to execute her…

All of a sudden, André rushed in and got hold of his hand and stopped him. He forced general´s hand in a position, where he could no longer hold his sword…The sword fell on the floor…

General:"Let go, André!"

André:"NO!" he shouted.

General:"Let go, André!" he told André.

André:"I will not!"

General:"Then I shall kill you too!"

André:"Fine! But before that, master…" he let the general out of his grip, took a dagger and pointed it at the general…"I´ll stab you, take Oscar and run away!"

General:"!...Is that it? Do you love her so much that you would be willing to commit a terrible crime?" he was surprised by the way André behaved. He was usually so calm, but now…

André:"Yes."

General:"You´re an idiot…Do you think that you can overcome your class difference?"

André:"Yes."

General:"You need the king´s approval to marry a noble." he was irritated by André´s persistence…"Does André really love my daughter that much?" the general thought.

André:"I know…"

André didn´t have a chance to finish his sentence, when Nanny rushed in…

Nanny:"Master! There´s a messenger from the king here to see you!"

The general turned towards the door. "A messenger at this hour?" he thought…"something important must have happened…"

At that very instant, the man stepped into the room…

Messenger:"An urgent message to the general de Jarjayes! The king has summoned you to Versailles at once!"

General:"Tell the king that I will come immediately. "

Messenger:"Very well, sir." he said and left the room together with nanny.

André let the general go and went beside Oscar and took her into his embrace to protect her.

General then left the room without saying a word to neither Oscar nor André.

André:"Are you all right?"

Oscar:"Yeah. That was close."

André held her even tighter in his embrace:"Oscar, don´t let your guard down." he wanted to comfort her.

Oscar:"I won´t. We should better stay awake and wait for his return."

Then she sat on her chair, while André sat on the arm of the chair. They hold each other tight…

They struggled against the sleepy feeling, but soon it overcame them…

Madame de Jarjayes came to see them, and when she saw them sleeping like that, she took a blanket and covered them. She smiled while looking at them…"Somehow I knew this day would come…My dear children." …she stopped…"your father is way too strict to you, Oscar. He should realize that you and André belong together…" after saying those words she left.

First rays of the Sun started to penetrate the room…They were still sleeping…The general stood there in front of them and watched them…

General:"Oscar, André…You have always been inseparable, even when you were children…" he thought. He was remembering the time, when they had kept insisting to sleep together…Oscar was then 10 and André 11…they had cried, when they were separated…"I should have known that it would eventually lead to this…" he smiled and shed a tear…

Then Oscar and André woke up…

Oscar:"Father?!" she was startled…André took Oscar into his arms in order to protect her.

General smiled:"Congratulations, both of you! You´ve won the king to your side! He has ordered you two to get married…You are quite smart, I admit that. "

Oscar:" You mean…"

General:"Yes, you can get married. We´ll start the arrangements today."

As the general left the room, Oscar and André were embracing each other. They were so happy that finally they could be together…They were looking forward for their wedding…and their life together…

To be continued…


	16. Chapter 15

Chapter 15: On the night of passions

General de Jarjayes was waiting for his daughter outside her room; while nanny was helping her to get dressed…He could hear them perfectly behind the closed door…

Nanny:"Where is that pagne?!"

Nanny was nervous; Oscar had to look beautiful, especially today…

Oscar:"Ouch! Don´t pinch me!"

Nanny:"I´m sorry mademoiselle! But you should have stood still!"

Nanny was running around the room searching things she had just seen…She had just held those in her hands and put it down just a moment ago…but where? She was rather anxious…

Nanny:"Now, where did I put that comb? Ah, there it is!" she picked the comb up and went to Oscar.

Oscar:"Stop that! You´re pulling my hair off!" she yelled.

Nanny:"You must look beautiful!" she persisted.

Oscar:"Grandma! Take it easy!" she smiled. She could tell that grandma was a bit too nervous. Well, it was quite natural, it was Oscar´s wedding day. Then Oscar ought to be nervous as well, but she wasn´t. She was so happy, that she forgot to be nervous…

Nanny:"How can I? This is the day I´ve been waiting for all these years! Our precious Mademoiselle is finally getting married!"

Oscar laughed:"I am!"

Nanny:"And with my grandson! He´d better treat you well, or else…"

Oscar:"He´ll make me very happy…" she said with her dreamy eyes…"he already has! Oh, grandma! "She yelled, when she realized that…"I´m going to be Mrs. Grandier!" of course she knew that, but now…it was finally happening…today she would become André Grandier´s wife.

Oscar:"Soon I´ll be Oscar François Grandier!" she said with her dreamy eyes.

Nanny:"That is so wonderful…" she started to cry…she was so happy, because both her beloved children would be very happy…

She hugged her grandma…"her" grandma, because now that she was getting married, André´s grandma would be hers as well.

Nanny:"I know!" she remembered the time, when she herself got married…"oh, those happy times!" she thought. "This day will be the first day of your happy life together!" she laughed.

Oscar:"Yes!"

Nanny:"But, I can´t believe that he had allowed you to take a post, even now that you are getting married…" She looked worried…"Mademoiselle. You are not going back to your military career, are you?!"

Oscar:"Well, of course I am! I was just given a post in the French Guards as a commander in Company B and I´m not giving it up just because I´m getting married."

Nanny:"But Mademoiselle! French Guards…There are bunch of commoners…Rough men with rough habits…"

Oscar:"It´s all right, grandma! I´ll be fine. André is coming too!"

Nanny:"André is going to enlist?!"

That startled Oscar; she didn´t want that to happen…Not to her André!

Oscar:"NO! I won´t allow that! He´ll be accompanying me as usual, as when I still was in the Royal Guards."

Nanny:"But this time, as a husband!"

Oscar smiled:"Yes, as my husband! But first, after the wedding, We´ll go to Arras and spend few weeks there!"

Now, Oscar was ready…She looked dashing in her blue dress, which highlighted her shining blue eyes. She was sparkling with happiness. ( _Note; the white wedding dress and a veil became in fashion much later; in the latter 19 century. The color blue was originally a color for women, the color of Virgin Mary.)_

Nanny was crying, because she was so happy. She had never seen so beautiful bride before…Oscar hugged her "Oh, grandma! I´m so excited!" she said.

Nanny: "But, Mademoiselle…You called me grandma!" nanny was startled. Oscar had called her "grandma" many times before, but only now she noticed it.

Oscar:"Of course! If you´re André´s grandma, you´re mine as well!" Oscar laughed.

Meanwhile the guests had already gathered in the small church. The church was full of people, mostly commoners, who had come to see the ceremony. André was there already, waiting for his bride. He was talking with a man, who had just been curios to see, what was it all about…

André:"…yes, everybody is welcome. We´ll be holding a small party in our manor after the ceremony. Please, join us there."

Man:"You are inviting strangers to your manor?"

André:"Nobody is a stranger! At least, not today!" he laughed. This was the happiest day of his life.

Then, Oscar came with her father…Finally the ceremony began…It was very touching and sensitive moment for both Oscar and André…They never thought-especially André-that this day would come…André couldn´t have even dreamed about marrying Oscar…but now, it was all real…Tears of happiness fell down on their cheeks, when the priest pronounced them husband and wife…

After the ceremony they invited everyone to their home to celebrate their happiness. There was plenty of food; it was because they had wanted no gifts at all, but instead lots of food for their guests…For them, marrying each other was a gift to itself…

Oscar and André had invited everyone they knew; Rosalie, Charlotte, Pierre…practically everyone, and they were enjoying themselves…The party lasted well over midnight and when the party was over, there was no food left…

André´s grandma was still awake; she wanted to clean up the mess. Besides, she was too nervous to go to sleep anyway. She was so excited, that her grandson had finally got his happiness with their beautiful and beloved Madamoiselle…."Madamoiselle…I can´t call her that anymore, now that she married my grandson…" she thought.

Nanny:"They really ate everything…" she wondered while cleaning…Oscar had told her to leave the cleaning, but she wanted to do it right away. "Oh, but that ceremony was so beautiful that I cried like a baby…" She reminisced…alone, because Oscar and André had already gone upstairs to their room…It was, after all, their wedding night…

Oscar was standing by the window looking at the night sky. Everything had been perfect…She was so happy…She was enjoying the fresh breeze, when André came and hugged her from behind. He caressed her gently…She was both excited and nervous at the same time…"André, I´m scared…" she whispered. She knew what they would soon be doing…

André turned her around and held her tight in his arms."Don´t be afraid. I won´t hurt you, I promise." he smiled tenderly.

They looked deep into each other´s eyes and kissed gently. She knew she could trust him, she knew he was going to be gentle; she knew she wanted him…but this was all new to her-to them both-and that´s why she was nervous…

Oscar:"I´ll be yours." she said gently. Her heart beat fast as she was near him.

Then he took her into his arms and carried her to bed…They took their clothes off…Then he went on top of her and took her into his embrace…They started to kiss…They felt overwhelming happiness…And soon…They were both in the state of Ecstasy…

He kissed her neck and glided his soft lips down her throat… while his hands were caressing her legs…

She opened her legs for him…she was shivering…she felt him slowly coming into her…He didn't want to hurt her, so he tried to be as gentle as he could…

Oscar:"Ah…I love you, I love you…" she felt intoxicated with pleasure…"We´ve shared happiness and sadness…we´ve shared our lives together…And from now on I give you my all"

He was inside her…and she felt wonderful…

André:"Oscar" he sighed…This was the moment he had been waiting for a long time…Now, the woman he loved was in his arms…as his wife…He was so happy.

André: "Do you remember you were there in those fleeting moments of spring…You were there in those blinding days of summer…Around in the shape of autumn, in the vile winter…Oh! Just like Castor and Pollux…You were there, you were there"

She sighed with pure pleasure…"André…"

Now, when night fell, the two childhood friends were linked as equals by God…Born to be together, the two were tied beautifully…

André: "I love you" he whispered into her ear.

Oscar sighed…

He was caressing her beautiful blond hair…

Oscar: "André…André…My husband…"

They were so happy that they cried…

The stars shone brightly in the night sky, while the two lovers, husband and wife, were sharing their first beautiful moment together…enjoying…

To be continued…


	17. Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Catching the Black Knight

Few weeks passed by quickly; the time Oscar and André spent in Arras was the happiest time in their life. Daytimes they explored the nature, went riding, and spent time in the village socializing with the people…Nights they spent together in very romantic way…

But soon they had to come back to Paris; they needed to catch the Black Knight…And they needed help…

Rosalie was doing her usual house chores in the house she had bought with the money Oscar had given her…

Suddenly there was a knock on the door, and Rosalie went to open it. It was Oscar and André…

Rosalie:"Lady Oscar!" she was happy to see her again. She went to hug her.

Oscar:"Rosalie, it´s good to see you."

Rosalie:"André…Please, come on in!" she smiled to the couple.

André:"Here´s some country bread and cheese for you! They sure know how to make bread!" He laughed.

They sat around a table to talk. Oscar and André told Rosalie their time in Arras…

Oscar:"…I wish we could have stayed longer, but there´s something we need to do and we need your help."

Rosalie:"I´ll do anything, please tell me…"

Oscar:"We need your help to catch the Black Knight."

Rosalie was stunned. They were going to catch the Black Knight? Why did they needed her help?

André:"Rosalie…We are not going to hand him to authorities, we just need to talk to him."

Rosalie:"What for?"

Oscar:"Because in the future we will need his help." she replied.

Rosalie:"So, you know who it is? The Black Knight…"

Oscar:"Yes, but we haven´t got any proof. I doubt he´ll talk to us just like that…" she smiled.

Rosalie:"I guess so…"

André:"We need to catch him in the act. We´ll use a fake Knight to lure him into a trap…"

Rosalie:"A fake?" she was surprised.

André:"Me." he smiled.

Rosalie:"All right, I´ll help you…Tell me everything."

Oscar and André told her their plan and they discussed about the details…

Rosalie:"Everything is clear now, I´ll be there…" she promised.

Oscar:"Thank you." she smiled…"It´s getting late and we should be going."

Then Oscar and André stood up and started to leave…

Rosalie:"Do you have to leave so soon?"

Oscar:"I´m afraid so. There´s a small church, where people are gathering to listen about the New Age that will come soon. We are going there."

Rosalie:"Can I come along?"

André:"Of course." he smiled.

So Rosalie joined Oscar and André… And soon they arrived to the church…

As they stepped inside the church, Rosalie was surprised by how many people had come to listen. The people were mostly commoners…

They seated…A man in front of the people were talking…

Man:"Right now, 97 % of the French people are called "le Tiers-Ètat". Farmers, merchants…" he continued…"Those 97 % suffer from heavy taxes and can´t afford bread everyday…"

The night darkened as the people listened carefully to the speech…

Later Oscar and André were in their room at de Jarjayes manor…

André was dressing up as Black Knight…He had to cut his hair to look the part…

André:"How do I look, Oscar? Compared to the one you´ve seen?"

Oscar:"It´d fool me at night."

André laughed and then bowed in front of her. "At your service, Madame."

Oscar:"André, just be careful…"

So, that night forward, they started to break into noble´s homes and steal jewels…Everything was going fine. André was more than fine in his new "job"…But that day, that he might lose his eye, was coming near…

That night…they were in their room talking…Oscar was having tea by the window…

André:"Say, Oscar. Do you think I´m a talented burglar?" he joked.

Oscar:"I know you´re much better than the original!" she laughed.

André:"That´s because I´ve got you." then he kissed her softly.

Oscar:"André, tonight it´s going to happen…"

André:"Don´t worry, I´ll be careful."

Oscar:"It´s almost dusk. Let´s get ready."

At the same time Oscar saw a bird coming towards her, but then suddenly changed its direction and flew away. "Thank God!" she was relieved… was it a good sign? Maybe this time André wasn´t going to lose his eye…

That night André broke into another mansion…He climbed up to the roof and got in, took the jewels and started to descent again…He didn´t notice that someone was watching him; it was the real Black Knight, who was furious and went after André…

The Black Knight saw his fake running to the woods and went after him …He rushed ahead of his enemy in order to stop his way out…Then he jumped right in front of the fake in order to surprise him, but instead he was surprised himself…

Black Knight:"?!" he was startled…How could it be…Just a moment ago he had seen a man, who looked a bit like him and he had been following him to the woods…But now, a young woman stood in front of him, a woman dressed in his outfit…The woman he had met before…

Rosalie:"Black Knight! Surrender yourself! There is no way out!" She pointed a pistol at him…

Black Knight:"…"

Soon, he heard noises coming from behind…He turned to look and saw another woman on horseback…A woman in a military uniform?...This woman he knew by her name; It was Oscar François Grandier, the newly appointed commander of the French Guards, Company B…

Oscar:"Give it up. Don´t move!" She too had a pistol…

Then, suddenly…someone fired a pistol…Bang!

The Black Knight fell onto the ground…wounded in his right shoulder…

André came behind a tree towards Oscar:"What an Earth you did that for?!"

Oscar:"I wanted to make sure he wasn´t going to use his sword! André! I had to make a choice; it was either his arm or your eye! I decided that it was his arm!"

Then Oscar got off her horse and walked towards the Black Knight…

Rosalie took the sword away from the Black Knight. Then she took the mask off his face…It was no other than Bernard Châtelet…

Oscar:"Let´s get him to your home, Rosalie. The doctor is there waiting and will tend his wound."

The doctor was already waiting for them, when they arrived at their manor…They carried Bernard into an empty guestroom…

The doctor then took care of Bernard…While Oscar and André were arguing in their room…

André:"There could have been another way!"

Oscar:"No, André! I had to be certain that he wasn´t going smash your eye! I aimed at his shoulder and his wound is not bad!"

André:"Oscar…I would have gladly given my eye for you." he tried to calm her down and took her into his embrace.

Oscar started to cry:"An eye?! Eventually you would have lost both of your eyes! You were going to be blind!"

André:"What?! You didn´t say anything like that…just that I was going to lose my left eye…"he was surprised…

Oscar hugged him:"I´m sorry…How could I have said something so horrible to you…You…" she couldn´t speak anymore, she just cried on his shoulders.

André smiled:"Then, Oscar…Thank you for saving me. I´m sure you did the right thing." A tear fell down his cheek. Then he kissed her forehead. He embraced her:"I´m sorry that I doubted you, my Oscar."

To be continued…


	18. Chapter 17

Chapter 17: The general´s kind words

At de Jarjayes´manor…

André was walking down the corridor to his room, when the general stopped him…

General:"André."

André:"Yes, sir?"

General:"About the incident before…I might have overreacted, when I found out about you and Oscar…" he was embarrassed of the whole situation and of his own behavior.

André:"Sir…"

General:"Please forgive me…I thought only of your class…" then he hugged André…"I don´t think anyone would be more suitable for Oscar than you, André. I bless your marriage with all my heart." he was so touched that he shed a tear.

André was happy to hear that…"Thank you!" he smiled brightly.

André wasn´t the only one, who smiled…Oscar was standing in the corridor and witnessed everything. She was happy that finally her father had accepted André as his son-in-law. She walked towards them smiling…

Oscar:"Father…André."

General:"I…must get going…" he never was good in these things and he thought he´d better leave…and so he did….

Oscar:"André…" She didn´t know what to say…only that she was happy…She hugged her husband and smiled then she buried her face into his chest…she had always loved to do that.

André:"I love, when you do that, Oscar." he smiled.

Oscar raised her head and smiled:"About time my father accepted you…I´m so happy that you two are in good terms again."

André smiled back to her…"Yes, Oscar. So am I…it would be rather silly if we weren´t…considering…"

Oscar:"What?"

André smiled…"That we both love you…very much."

Oscar:"I love you too…"

André was about to kiss her, when she added…"both of you!" she wanted to tease her husband.

André just smiled.

Oscar:"André, I need to talk to you."

They walked hand in hand into their room and closed the door behind them.

Oscar:"André, we need to get Bernard to trust us."

André:"How?" he asked her.

Oscar:"One of my father´s subordinates is in charge of the transportation of 200 new rifles…In my nightmare the Black Knight attacked it and stole the rifles…"

André:"But he can´t do it now with his arm still being injured."

Oscar:"No, but someone else can…" then she looked at André smiling suspiciously…

André:"What?! You´re joking, right?" he knew, what Oscar wanted him to do…

Oscar:"No, we´re going to do it. You´re going to dress up as the Black Knight…"

André:"Then what?!"

Oscar:"I know that it´s wrong…But…It has to be done. We need to get Bernard to trust us, and it´s the only way. Besides, when the Revolution starts, people need weapons."

André:"Yeah, I guess so."

Later…

The carriage that was transporting the weapons, advanced slowly in a road…There were armed men beside it, so they thought they were safe. Little did they know that there were equestrians nearby…Ready to attack them…

Oscar and André were watching it from a high hill. They had some of Bernard´s men with them and André was dressed as the Black Knight. Right now, he was in charge…

Oscar:"André, this is the one." she told André.

André:"All right, Oscar." He said gently. Then he turned towards his men and said:"For the coming age, a gun is worth more than an hour of speeches. Let´s go, comrades!"

Then they charged to the carriage, and when the soldiers noticed them, a fierce swordplay began…

It didn´t take long, that they had taken the rifles and rushed away. Oscar and André took those rifles to a safe place and went to meet Bernard, who was still lodged in Rosalie´s home.

While they were all sitting around the table, Bernard told them the good news; he and Rosalie were planning to get married…Bernard had fallen love with Rosalie a long time ago, and for his fortune, she had responded to his feelings eventually.

They talked for a long time, and when it was time for Oscar and André to leave, it was already dark…

Oscar and André walked down the streets of Paris hand in hand; they were happy. They stopped in some street corner to kiss…

Oscar:"André, I love…your beautiful eyes."

André:"My eyes?"

Oscar nodded and kissed his eyes…"and your passionate lips…"then she kissed his lips…

André:"Oscar, I love…your irresistible neck." then he kissed her neck. He started from above and moved downwards…

Oscar:"Oh, André…" she sighed…

André saw a couple further away from them…

André:"Looks like we´re not the only couple in love."

Oscar turned to look…By her amazement, she knew the woman.

Oscar:"André, that´s Diane!"

André:"Diane? You mean the one, who´s going to kill herself over a…"

Oscar:"Yes, that´s her. That must be the man, who will leave her!"

André:"Let´s follow him."

They waited for a while, and when the man left, they started to follow him…First they watched him, but then…

The man walked around a corner in his thoughts, when all of a sudden, he tripped over. When he looked up, he saw two persons standing right in front of him.

Man:"I beg your pardon, gentlemen…"

Oscar:"What were you doing with her?!"

Man:"Monsieur? I don´t know what you mean…" he stood up.

Oscar."That woman, Diane, is our dear friend and we don´t want any troubles!"

Man:"I can assure you, that I meant no harm…"

Oscar:"No Harm!" She was furious…he was just playing with her, and then he would dump her just like that.

Man:"Look, that´s not your business!"

André:"It´s our business all right, if you hurt her!"

The man started to walk away from them, when Oscar stopped him.

Oscar:"If you ever see her again, you´ll have to deal with us!"

Man:"Are you try to scare me? With a beautiful face like that, I bet you never fought a single fight…"

That was enough for Oscar, she got angry and she hit him and she hit him hard. "Damn!" he swore and attacked her, but André hit him. Then, he stood up again and tried to hit Oscar, but she dodged.

André: "Leave Oscar alone!" André yelled and hit him. It didn´t take much, when the man was down and beaten. He was the one, who never had really fought...

André took hold of him and told him to leave Diane alone. He agreed…"she´s not exactly wealthy, so I might as well give up now…" he told them.

Oscar:"Good! And remember…Our promise…"

They watched him ran away. André took Oscar´s hand…

Oscar:"I guess he won´t bother Diane again."

André:"Hm." he nodded.

Oscar:"I hope, that now Diane can find her true happiness and won´t kill herself."

André:"Yeah, me too."

Oscar remembered the situation they were in just before the incident with that man…she smiled…

André:"Where were we, before he interrupted us?" he then took her into his embrace and started to kiss her gently…

Oscar:"André…remember that tomorrow is our first day at the Barracks…My first day as a commander of the company B…"

André:"We still have few hours…"

Oscar:"André!" she smiled…"We should hurry home…I want to enjoy these few hours with you…"

So, they hurried home…

To be continued…


	19. Chapter 18

Chapter 18: The French Guards

The French Guards were an infantry regiment of the Military Household of the King of France. It was created in 1563 and its guardsmen were enlisted among the commoners…

At the French Guards´ barracks…

Oscar and André were in the Commander´s room at the barracks. They were watching out of the window, when they heard a knock on the door…

Oscar:"Come in." they turned around…

The door opened and an elderly man walked in.

Dagout:"I´m colonel Dagout, the sub-commanding officer of Company B. I´d like to welcome you."

Oscar:"Thank you very much."

Dagout:"But, I´ve heard that the inaugural troops review is tomorrow. You´ve come a day early." he wondered.

Oscar:"Yes. This is our first time in the French Guards, so we wanted to know about the details early. Show us the soldier´s barracks."

Colonel took Oscar and André to the barracks reluctantly; he was afraid of the reaction from the men, when they would find out that the new Commanding Officer was a woman. And not just any woman, but a married woman…And he was right…the men wouldn´t take it easy…

When they opened the door, the men were lined up nicely…Oscar went inside, while André and the Colonel stood by the door…

Oscar:"I´ll be commanding you starting tomorrow. I´m Oscar François Grandier. My husband, André Grandier, will accompany me. How do you do."

"Husband? Are you…a woman?!" someone asked her.

Oscar nodded…"Yes. I am."

Everyone was shocked…She was a woman? "I´m not taking orders from a woman" Oscar heard someone whispering…"She brought her husband along?" someone else wondered…"She is so afraid that she can´t be without him…"

Oscar stepped a few steps forward and said in a clear voice:"If someone has something on his mind, he can tell it outright! Right here and right now!"

Alain took few steps forward and spoke to Oscar…

Alain:"You heard them, we will not obey a woman! Go somewhere else to play home with your husband! This is the French Guards´ barracks and not a playground for an aristocratic couple!"

Oscar got angry:"I do not fear you! André isn´t here to protect me, he´s here to protect you from me!"

Everyone started to laugh…"Pardon me, Madame…" said Alain:"I find that hard to believe! I guess you haven´t heard that Company B is specially known for its roughness! So I suggest you leave before you hurt yourself."

Oscar:"I don´t mind being rough! So me how rough you are! Let´s see what you can do!"

Alain:"What?!"

Oscar:"Anyone, who think is capable…Come to the Parade ground! Guns or swords, it makes no difference to me!"

Oscar and André left the room and headed towards the Parade ground leaving the men speechless for a while…

Man:"Let´s show her!"

Alain:"She sure has a lot of nerve!"

Man:"Alain, you´re always our representative. Do it! Teach that woman a thing or two!" he threw a sword to Alain…

Alain:"Nope. I´m declining this time. Sorry, my policy is not to take on women."

Then he took the sword and threw it to the second best swordsman in their company…

Alain:"You do it!" he told the man.

Man:"Is it okay? All right! Let´s go to the Parade ground! Everyone!" he was more than willing to teach that woman commander a lesson or two.

Oscar was already waiting, when the men came to the Parade ground. They gathered around the two competitors…

Oscar:"If I win, you´ll accept us here. If I lose, we´ll leave the French Guards immediately. "

Man:"Sounds good!"

Then he took a sword from scabbard and so did Oscar…the battle had begun. The man showed his excellent fencing skills…

Oscar:"I see living up to the reputation of being rough. You´re certainly skilled." she said to him.

The man attacked Oscar, but luckily she managed to dodge it. She jumped from the front to the back, turned around and attacked him. They fought more…Everybody was watching the fierce battle between Oscar and her opponent…Which one would win?

They were both very good…the battle went on, but then…

Oscar wounded the man on his hand; the battle was over and Oscar had won.

The man held his wounded hand and looked angrily at Oscar.

Oscar:"I won." then she put her sword back into its scabbard, turned around and started to walk away…

Man:"Shit!" he yelled and started to run towards Oscar. He was angry and he wasn´t going to give up so easily. No woman would beat him. When he was about to grab her, she took her sword and pushed him back so that he flew to the ground.

"You bitch!" the men started to yell…"Get her!" they were going to attack her, when Alain stopped them…

Alain:"Wait! Wait everyone! Wait! A promise is a promise. We lost. You can stay here."

"Okay, Alain. Whatever you think it´s the best." said the men.

Alain:"However, Madame Commander. Don´t assume that everyone has accepted you."

Oscar:"We understand." André came beside her…

Alain:"And one more thing. This is really basic, but we´re not in the army to protect the nobles, or the Royal palace. To be blunt, it´s for our salary, so that we can eat. Keep that in mind, if you will…"

Oscar:"I, too, have something to say to you. Just for you to know; my husband is not a noble, but a commoner just like you. So I know a thing or two about your lives here…"

Alain:"What?! You married a commoner?!"

Oscar:"Yes, the only man I love and trust. I don´t care whether he is a noble or a commoner…Because we are the same."

Everyone was surprised by her words…

André:"Oscar…" he smiled.

Oscar:"Tomorrow is the inaugural troops review. I want all of you to be there!"

Alain:"All right, we will. But only for that…"

The next day, they were all in the inaugural troops review, Oscar, André and Colonel Dagout were on horseback watching the troop review…Oscar was pleased to see that everyone obeyed her. But that was all they were willing to do…They still didn´t trust her…

Soon, General de Bouille got complaints about her from the men in company B. He called Oscar´s father to talk about the matter…They were talking at his place…

General:"Did you call for me, Your Excellency de Bouille?"

De Bouille was standing by the window looking outside, when he met his guest…"Oh, General de Jarjayes, please come here. How is everything? Going fine?"

General:"Everything is fine, sir."

De Bouille:"Your son…No, your daughter was transferred to the French Guards, I heard."

General:"Yes."

De Bouille:"How is she…I mean, Oscar?"

General:"Well…"

De Bouille:"There is this complicated matter I wish to talk to you about…The soldiers are blatantly expressing their dissatisfaction. Some even wrote letters to His Majesty, saying a woman commander won´t be able to function fully. I´m very concerned…especially now with the French Guards on alert in Paris with a very important mission."

General:"Your Excellency! My daughter has recently married and should be expecting her first child soon. I´m sure, she´ll quit the military as soon as she´s pregnant."

De Bouille:"I heard about her marriage…I thought she would have quit the military right after her marriage ceremony…"

General:"You are quite right! I shall talk to her…No, to them both and see that they both quit right away!"

De Bouille:"Is it true, that she married a commoner?"

General:"Yes, André Grandier. But he is no ordinary…He has lived with us many years and can act like a noble…His manners don´t differ from ours. They´ve always been together, and frankly, I think he is more than suitable for my daughter, Your Excellency."

De Bouille:"I see…Well, then… good! I expect to hear the good news about Oscar´s pregnancy soon!"

General:"Yes, Your Excellency!"

To be continued…


	20. Chapter 19

Chapter 19: The uncertain future

Oscar and André had been working for a while now at the Barracks…Perhaps even too hard…There were so many things happening at the time…The terrorists…and everything…

After another exhausting day at the Barracks, Oscar and André were riding home. A group of terrorist was targeting nobles in Paris and the French Guards was in special alert. To make things more complicated, the men in Company B were still unwilling to take orders from a woman Commander…

Oscar:"André, I know now…"

André turned to look at Oscar. She seemed rather serious, so he knew that there was something big going on.

Oscar:"I know why I saw the future ahead."

He listened carefully to what she had to say…

Oscar:"I was meant to be the Commander of the French Guards and be in command of the attack to the Bastille. This time I have to…"

She paused for a while…

Oscar:"The people will win the Revolution in the end, I know that. I have …we have to be there at the beginning to courage the men to fight with the people…" she continued talking about the Revolution and André listened without saying a word.

André knew that he was going to die…Oscar never mentioned that to him, but the way she spoke about the Revolution and their future, he knew…because he knew her so well…

André:"I will die."

Oscar startled…she didn´t know what to say, but after hearing that phrase "I will die" she broke into tears…

Oscar:"André…You…I…I won´t allow it! I´ll do anything in my powers to stop that!"

André:"We never got married in that nightmare of yours, did we?"

Oscar:"…" no…they never did, because she had realized her feelings for André too late…She thought about that…she now knew, how empty her life had been in her nightmare. She had been with André all the time, but she hadn´t been with him...at least, not that way they had both wanted…

André looked at Oscar and smiled:"I´m so happy that we did it now! I´m glad…I'm glad that I was born…All that time we had together…"

Oscar:"Don´t talk like that!" she didn´t like him talking that way…as if their time together would come to an end.

André:"Oscar…Sometimes I dreamed about you and me living in a small cottage somewhere in the countryside…And couple of kids running around…"

Oscar:"André…" she was sad…she didn´t want to lose him…again.

André:"I´ll be with you until the end."

The two riders kept on with their journey talking…When they finally got home, the General was there waiting for them. Oscar and André went to the study, where the general was sitting…

Oscar:"Father…"

General:"Sit down." he told her.

Oscar sat down on a chair opposite to her father, while André remained standing by her side.

General:"You seem to have hardships in the French Guards."

Oscar:"Hardships? I don´t consider them to be hardships in the least. Any newly appointed Commander will face resistance from the members of the corps. It´s rather encouraging to me. They are more exciting than the obedient Royal Guards!"

General:"Oscar, I thought you were going to quit the military once you got married. You should stay home and concentrate on your marriage life, have children…"

He didn´t have a chance to finish his sentence, when Oscar yelled at him…

Oscar:"Oh! Is that what you think? Now that I´m married, my only job is to give birth to children! Is that what you´re saying?!"

General:"Oscar! How dare you talk to your father that way!" Oscar had a quick temper, but she had never yelled at her father like that…That was weird…Even Oscar herself was surprised…

The general turned towards André…

General:"André! Control your wife! You´re the head of your family!"

André:"NO!"

General:"What?!"

André:"In our family, we decide things together! Only because Oscar is a woman, doesn´t mean that she can´t decide herself what she wants! Only because she is a woman doesn´t mean that she hasn´t got mind of her own, brains and skill to act in men´s world! You have seen it; you have seen how great she is in the military career! I support her in every way I can so, that she can do what she wants to and what she-we-feel it´s the right thing to do!"

General:"André! Have you gone mad?!"

André:"No! I think this world is mad, because you won´t allow her to do what´s good for her!" then he looked at Oscar and smiled:"Sir, we will have children…One day…" that sentence made the General calm down. He had always wanted a boy to carry on his career…he himself never had a boy, but maybe Oscar would…One day…

General:"So, you think she´ll be fine with the Company B?"

André nodded:"Yes. It´s just like she said; there´s always troubles at the beginning, but we´ll overcome those, together."

Oscar:"André…"

General:"If you say so, André. You have always been there for her, and I trust you. Take good care of my daughter."

André:"I will. I´ll protect her with my life."

Oscar took André´s hand and caressed it. "André…" she whispered. She thought how lucky she was to have a husband like him. He was one of his kind…

Few days later, the General and de Bouille were sitting in a carriage talking, when they were attacked to the terrorists. Oscar´s father were shot to the chest and was wounded. Oscar and André rushed to him, when he lied in bed in de Jarjayes´manor…

Oscar:"Father!"

Nanny turned towards Oscar and smiled:"He´s fine. The bullet miraculously missed his heart."

Oscar:"Grandma!" she rushed into her arms and cried.

André:"Thank God for that!"

Nanny:"André! Don´t just stand there! Bring them some tea!" she told him.

Oscar:"Grandma!"

André:"It´s all right, Oscar. I´d be happy to…You just stay with your father."

When André left together with his grandma, Oscar went to see her father.

General:"It seems like the insurgent mistook me for General de Bouille."

Oscar:"I will…I´ll capture the man who shot you with my own hands!"

General:"Oscar, if you are concerned about me and want to please me, give me a grandson."

Oscar smiled mysteriously…

Weeks passed by quickly, while Oscar, together with André, tried to improve the men´s conditions at the Barracks. The guardsmen´s salaries were way too low, and the food was bad…at least, that was what she had heard…

The men dining and talking, when Oscar charged in…

Dagout:"Madame! This isn´t a place for you!"

Oscar sat down next to André, who had joined with the men earlier, and started to eat the food meant for the men.

Oscar:"How will I know about the quality of the food, if I haven´t taste it myself?"

Then she took a spoonful of food and tasted it…

She spit it out from her mouth…"This is disgusting!"…She felt sick and rushed away…

André:"Oscar!" He was worried, so he ran after her. And when he caught her up, she was on her knees…

Oscar:"André, you didn´t tell me that the food here is so bad that it makes you throw up."

André:"But…It´s not!" he paused…"I mean, it´s not that good, but I never threw up."

Oscar:"Really?" She stood up.

Colonel Dagout came to check on Oscar as well…

André was concerned:"Oscar, if you don´t feel well, you should go to see the doctor."

Oscar:"Thank you, but I´m all right."

Dagout:"Monsieur." he turned to André "Would you go back and tell the men you´re wife is all right."

André looked at Oscar, and when she nodded, he knew she was all right and left her alone with the Colonel.

Dagout:"Commander, please quit your job now and go home…"

Oscar:"What?! Why?! Is it because I´m trying to improve the men´s conditions? Because I requested raise in the guardsmen´s salaries? Or is it because I took their complaint about their food seriously?"

Dagout:"No, Madame. That`s not it…It´s because I noticed a long time ago about your condition…"

Oscar:"…" she was startled…

Dagout:"You are not fit for this kind of a job anymore, this is too stressful and you work too hard. Even though you should be home resting…"

What was wrong with Oscar? Why did she have to rest?

To be continued…


	21. Chapter 20

Chapter 20: Oscar´s condition

Oscar was speechless…Was she ill? She felt fine most of the days…but sometimes she did feel tired and sick. It had been going on for some time now, but since she didn´t have fever or anything of the sort, she had just ignore it…Maybe she had just been working too hard?

Oscar:"Do you know, what´s wrong with me?" she asked him.

Dagout smiled:"Well…Yes…I´ve been married and had children, so I know when a woman is expecting."

Oscar was amazed…Was she pregnant?...That was only natural, since she and André were married and sleeping together as a husband and wife. She just hadn´t thought about that…She was busy saving everyone around her, making a better future… She never thought that a child could belong in their future, because in her nightmare they both died before that…

Oscar smiled:"Thank you…I will do as you say; I´ll quit, but not just yet…Please, take control here for today, while I´ll go to the doctor." the words came out of her mouth, but she was still confused…

Dagout:"Yes, Madame."

Oscar:"Please, don´t tell André. I want to be sure…"

She was in a cloud; she didn´t notice anything around her…She could only think of her pregnancy…and their baby. She was very happy, but scared at the same time…How would she manage? She did love children, but now she was going to be a mother. She didn´t know anything about being a mother…What if something would go wrong? Well, one thing she knew for certain; she knew that André would be an excellent father…If only they were to live…Now she wanted to stay alive more than ever…She wanted to raise their child together…Make a better future for their beloved child…

Later, Oscar and André were in their room at their manor…

The dusk had already fallen…Oscar lied in bed with André holding her head on his chest. She thought about her visit to the doctor; he had confirmed her pregnancy. She was so concentrated on her thoughts, that she didn´t pay attention to what André was talking about…

André:"…Oscar! Are you even listening?"

Oscar:"What?" she lifted her head up and looked at André.

André:"Oscar, something is on your mind. Please, tell me."

Oscar smiled radiantly:"I was just thinking about this bed…"

André´:"This bed?" he was surprised by her answer…

She nodded:"You used to sneak in here at midnight so that we could be together in our sleep, too."

André:"I remember that…It happened, when you thought you were a boy. We only thought it was natural being together at night, just like we did in daytime." he smiled.

Oscar:"You were twelve… "her eyes shone brightly:"But after that time I slept alone for years...Alone in this huge bed…And now, there´s three of us."

André was startled:"Three?!" Did he hear right? Did she say: Three?..."Oscar…"

Oscar laughed:"I went to see the doctor today…He said that I´m pregnant!" Tears of happiness fell down on her cheeks…"André! We´re going to have a baby!"

André was deeply touched:"Oscar! This is wonderful!" he shouted happily and kissed her.

Oscar:"André, I´ll quit the military soon, but there´s still something we need to do…"

That night they couldn´t sleep; they were so excited about having a baby that they talked all night. Dawn had already broken, when they finally fell in sleep.

The next morning Oscar had woken up early and had wanted to go out walking. André had been fast asleep, so Oscar sneaked quietly out…She didn´t want to wake him up…

Now she was in their garden thinking about all this that´s had happened to her…to them…ever since she woke up from her nightmare. If someone would have told her few years ago, that she would be expecting André´s child, she wouldn´t have believed it. It was so amazing…Tears fell from down on her cheeks, when she thought of a new life was growing inside her. She was so happy about having a baby…

Oscar touched her stomach…"You will be loved…" she was talking to her baby…

The baby that Oscar carried inside her was born from the beautiful love between Oscar and André…The baby would be the first one in their family to be a child of love. Every one of her sisters was forced to marry the man their father had chosen. Even their own mother had married their father, because she was told to…

Oscar could have never married anyone without love. But she couldn´t blame her father…She was just so happy that she had André…And in a way it was all due to her father…If he hadn´t persisted raising her as a boy, he would never had brought André into their manor to accompany her…

Then…Just right at that moment, when she was so happy…she remembered something bad…As if dark clouds had come over her…She remembered that in her nightmare she had had lung disease…

She got scared…Not for her own sake, but for the baby´s sake. What if she would catch the disease again? In her nightmare it had gone bad…It had already proceeded into the terminal point…She had been coughing blood many times before she had gone to see their doctor. The doctor had given her only a little time…It would have killed her…

Right now Oscar felt healthy. She had been avoiding every possible situation she might catch the disease…But in a way she had done that unwittingly…Only now she had remembered that situation…

Oscar:"I have to be careful…" she thought.

Then she looked at the morning sun that was rising…

"Beautiful, isn´t it?" she heard André talking to her behind her…

She turned towards him…

André:"Oscar…What are you doing here this early in the morning?"

Oscar smiled to him. She was happy to see him…"Oh, André…" she embraced him…"I just couldn´t sleep anymore. I`m thinking about the baby…"

André caressed her hair…"Oscar…I can´t stop thinking about our baby either…This is exactly like one of my dreams…"

Oscar:"Your dreams?"

André:"Yes…I have hoped for this. I always wanted us to be a family…I want to have children with you."

Oscar buried her face into his chest…She was so happy…" We should probably get inside…" she said.

André:"Oscar…" he said and pushed her gently away. Then he grabbed her into his arms and started to carry her inside.

Oscar:"André…You don´t have to carry me…" she said.

André:"But I want to!" he smiled gently to her…"Grandma has made us breakfast!" he said happily…"And I´m hungry!"

Oscar just laughed…

In the evening Oscar and André told the news about their baby to everyone. Everybody was happy, especially Oscar´s father, who had been expecting these news for a while now. Both Mrs. de Jarjayes and André´s grandma offered their help with the baby… they wanted to help the young happy couple in every way they could.

As everyone was leaving the room, the general tapped André´s back…

General:"Well done." he said and left the room.

André was…a bit confused…Did he heard right? He just stood still without saying anything. Oscar, instead, burst into laughter.

André:"Oscar! I don´t see anything funny in that!"

Oscar:"I´m sorry…But his words just sounded so…ridiculous!"

André felt embarrassed.

Oscar:"Looks like you did something right!" she continued laughing.

André was about to leave the room…"Oscar…If you keep on laughing, I´ll eat that ice cream alone…" he smiled…he was teasing her…Of course he wanted to get the ice cream her and spoil her…

Oscar:"André…I´m sorry! I won´t laugh again. I promise! Please, share that ice cream with me?!"

André laughed…"You just sit still, while I get the ice cream for you." then he left the room to get his wife an ice cream…

Meanwhile Oscar sat down…"I wonder what will it be like…to have a baby of our own?" she started dreaming…

To be continued…


	22. Chapter 21

Chapter 21: The love between a noble and a commoner

Few days later Oscar and André were riding back to the Barracks, when they saw Alain with his sister Diane…They rode near them and stopped.

When Alain saw the couple, he spoke to his sister Diane…He wanted to introduce them to Diane.

Alain:"She´s our new Commander and that´s her husband."

Diane:"My brother owes a lot to you. I´m Alain´s sister, Diane…" She said to Oscar and André she was smiling at them, but then…when she looked closer at Oscar and André, something seemed familiar…she stopped to think…"Have we met before?" she asked.

Oscar laughed:"No, I think so. I´m Oscar François and this is André. We owe a great deal to your brother…" then she wanted to know, if their plan had worked, so she asked Diane:"Diane, how are you?"

Diane was surprised by Oscar´s question:"I´m fine, Madame."

Oscar:"Do you have someone special?" she laughed:"I´m only asking, because I´m interested to know about my men´s families and their well being."

Diane:" Is that true?!" She was surprised.

Alain:"Yes, it´s surprising, but…they are on our side."

Diane:"How lucky you are!" she shouted happily to Alain and then turned to Oscar and André…"No, I don´t have anyone right now…I met someone, but then he just disappeared before we even got a chance to know each other…"

Oscar:"Was he a noble?"

Diane:"Yes."

Oscar:"You shouldn´t get involved with nobles; they only play with you and then leave you. They are only interested in money and family honor."

Oscar had that kind of seriousness in her voice, that suggested Diane that she should take the warning seriously. But why? The commander herself was in relationship between noble and commoner…They seemed happy, so why didn´t she wanted Diane to experience the same?

Diane:"But…Aren´t you a noble?" she asked Oscar.

Oscar:"Yes. That´s why I know what they really are like." she laughed.

Diane:"And you are a commoner?" she turned towards André.

André:"Yes. But Oscar is different from the rest of the nobles. She has a good heart and she would never want to hurt me. I was lucky to have met her, and when I realized that she responded to my feelings, I was the happiest man on Earth…"

Diane:"You two seem so happy together!"

Oscar smiled:"We are…" then she looked at André…"I´m very lucky to have met a man like André, who loves me unquestionably." she smiled…"So, Diane…Don´t even look at nobles, they are not worthy of you."

Then Oscar and André left the two wondering…

Oscar:"Alain! Take care of your sister!" she shouted from the distance.

Alain:"I will!"

Diane:"You know, Alain…They are the most beautiful couple I´ve ever seen."

Near the Barracks…Oscar and André had got off their horses and were now walking towards her office…

Soon Oscar and André approached her office, and when they opened the door, general de Bouille was waiting for them…

Oscar:"Your Excellency de Bouille."

De Bouille:"Oscar…and André…"

Oscar:"Your Excellency."

De Bouille:"I came here to assign you to a special mission today. As you may already know, Duke Ardelos and his family from Spain are visiting our country now."

Oscar:"Yes. We heard that it´s a goodwill envoy to the Royal Family."

De Bouille:"We were informed that terrorists are after them. They are trying to attack Duke Ardelos and ruin the authority of our Royal Family. To make matter more complicated, the Duke is going to travel around the country. So, I want you and your company to guard him."

Oscar:"Yes, Your Excellency." she knew that resistance wouldn´t help, so she decided not to argue with the general this time. Besides, she did want to help the Duke get away from the terrorists.

Later that day Oscar had gathered the company together…She was standing at the front of her men as she was giving them instructions. André was standing by her side.

Oscar:"We´ll depart early tomorrow morning. Guard them from a distance, in order not to disturb the family as much as possible. Depending on the situation, we might camp outside. All equip for the expedition."

Oscar walked back and forth in the room in front of the men, when she noticed that a man was missing his rifle.

Oscar:"Where´s your rifle? Why aren´t you lined up with your rifle?" she asked him.

LaSalle:"I…I lost it." He couldn´t tell the truth.

Oscar:"Where? When?" She asked him looking angry…

LaSalle:"I-I don´t know. I can´t remember when or where I lost it."

Then André walked towards Oscar and started to talk…

André:"Oscar…" he said to her…"Maybe I should go and look for it."

Oscar smiled:"Thank you, André."

André stepped outside, while Oscar continued scolding LaSalle…

Oscar:"Do you think you can get away with such an ambiguous answer after you lost your valuable rifle? If a soldier loses a gun provided from the country without proper reason, he´ll get a corporal punishment or imprisonment in the worse case."

LaSalle was nervous…He didn´t know what to say. He had sold his gun in a pawn shop…

Then, at that moment…the door opened and André came in holding the rifle in his hand. LaSalle was shocked. How could André have found his rifle?

André:"I found it." then he gave it to LaSalle.

Oscar:" Thank you, André…" she smiled and then turned towards LaSalle…"LaSalle! Be more careful from now on! Don´t lose your gun again!"

LaSalle:"Thank you, Madame. I won´t." he was relieved.

In that night André was packing for the expedition…

Oscar was coming towards him…"André…"

André:"Oscar…" he turned towards her.

Oscar:"I´m glad you found the rifle in that pawn shop."

André:"Yeah…It´s not right, when a man has to sell a gun in order to get enough food. Their wages are far too low…"

Oscar:"Yeah. I´d tried to get it raised, but they don´t have money in the coffer…At least, the food is now better…"

André:"Thanks to my heroine!" he smiled to Oscar…"Oscar, I´m ready; everything is set for tomorrow."

Oscar came to André and started to kiss his neck…she started to undress him…"André, come to bed" she whispered into his ear…

The next morning the Company B was on the move…They had stopped to listen the instructions…

Oscar:"That´s Duke Ardelos and his entourage." she told her men…they were all on horseback ready to move…" We´ll split into two groups from here. One group will guard Duke Ardelos. The other is a scouting party, who will try to find the terrorists by all means possible by looking out the front and back of the envoy. Colonel Dagout, yoy instruct the guard group."

Dagout:"Yes, Madame."

Oscar:"I´ll lead the assault squad."

Dagout:"Please, be extra careful…especially now with your condition."

Oscar:"Yeah." she sure was going to be. She didn´t want anything happen to her unborn baby.

Oscar and André left with their men riding full speed ahead…

To be continued…


	23. Chapter 22

Chapter 22: On the mission in Paris

The assault squad that Oscar was leading, got near to an old chateau and stopped near a forest…

Oscar:"Alain, we´ll search the chateau, come with us."

Alain:"Yes, Madame."

Oscar:"The rest of you stay here until I give the signal." she ordered.

"Yes, Madame." the men replied.

Oscar, André and Alain rode to the chateau and entered inside it…

André:"Oscar…Are you sure about this?" he was worried about Oscar…

Oscar:"Yes, André. Just go with Alain, I´ll be fine." she kissed him.

Meanwhile the terrorists were riding towards the village of Agincourt…

Saint-Just:"We´ll attack Ardelos in the village of Agincourt. I´ve told our comrade in the French guards to kill the Commander before the envoy arrives there!" he told the others.

Back in the castle, Oscar had checked the upstairs, while André and Alain had checked the downstairs. Oscar asked, if they had come across anything suspicious…

Oscar:"André, how is it?"

André:"All clear!"

Alain:"I don´t see anything here either!"

Oscar:"Okay, good. Check the cellar then. I´ll go up more and check."

"Okay!" they replied.

Oscar ascended the stairs to the tower…Then, all of a sudden, she heard footsteps from behind her…Someone was following her, so she turned to look…It was one of the guardsmen…The same one she had that duel with…

Oscar:"What did you come here for? Did you forget my order? Wait in the forest. Go back now!"

Man:"Don´t be so strict, Madame Commander. I´ve come to help you out." he grinned.

Oscar:"Go back. I can court-martial you for disobeying my order." she said firmly.

After saying that, she started to ascent again leaving the man behind her… She came to a balcony and walked to view the scenery… Then she heard noises from behind her, and when she turned, she saw that man again…But this time; he was holding a rifle…

Man:"if you die, the French Guards won´t be able to focus on guarding Duke Ardelos!"

Oscar."You´re a part of the terrorists´group?!"

Man:"Farewell, generous woman Commander!"

Just as the man was going to fire his rifle, someone knocked him out cold from behind…

When he came to, he was tied tightly with a rope…

Man:"Shit!"

Oscar:"Who is your leader?! Answer me!"

Man:"Never!"

Oscar hit him…"One more time; who is your leader!"

Man:"He told me to be sure to kill you! For the sake of the New Era, I don´t care what happens to me."

Oscar:"If you say his name, you´ll have a chance to stay alive…But if you insist not telling anything…"

Man:"I told you, I´d rather die than tell you anything!" he yelled.

André:"Oscar, what are we going to do?"

Oscar:"I´ll try one more time to get him to talk."

Just as she was going towards the man tied in a chair, he fought his way out of it…Somehow he had managed to loosen the rope…as if he had huge strengths…He tried to attack Oscar again...

"I´ll kill you!" he yelled as he charged towards Oscar…

He was running fast towards Oscar, when all of a sudden…

Bang! Someone had fired a gun….

The man fell on the floor dead…André had shot him…

André went to Oscar and embraced her…"Are you all right, Oscar?" then he kissed her on her forehead.

Oscar:"Yeah, I´m all right. I wish he could have told us the leader."

André:"He wouldn´t have. Oscar…" his voice was full of concern about his wife…"Oscar, I don´t like the idea of you being the decoy. You could get hurt."

Oscar smiled:"I´ll be all right, because I have you by my side." she buried her face into his chest.

André:"But still…I love you…more than anything…"

Oscar:"André, I love you, too."

They kissed each other…

She was a bit frightened…She never had expected the man to get out of his ropes…Her plan had failed; she had wanted him alive, so that she could squeeze the truth out of him, so that he would have told them the leader…But no…This was one of the times she couldn´t alter the outcome…

Later that day, Oscar had received a message that the Duke had arrived safely to the village… Oscar and her squad were now guarding the gateways to the village…While Oscar was checking the streets alone; André was keeping an eye on one of the gateways together with Alain …

Alain:"I´m so sleepy! Hey, André, is it true that your wife, our commander, is expecting a child?"

André smiled and nodded. He was radiant…

Alain:"So, you will be leaving us soon…That´s too bad, we have just started to get accustomed to you two!" he joked…

…The men in the Company B had really started to like the couple. Their Commander was a generous and thought of their best. She wasn´t that snobbish aristocrat they had thought she was...But she was rather unique; she had married a commoner and also was acting more like a commoner herself…

Alain:"It´s pretty serious…You two…You really love each other more than anything…" he laughed…"Well; I wish you all the best! With the baby and everything!"

André:"Thanks!" he smiled.

Then, suddenly, there was a large explosion…They turned to look…

Alain:"What the hell?!"

André:"Oscar!"

They ran towards the big flames they saw in the distant…

When they got there, they saw the guardsmen putting off the fire of the carriage…When colonel Dagout saw them, he yelled:"André! Your wife went after the terrorists' leader!"

André and Alain went to look for her…They walked around and tried to locate Oscar and the terrorist… They walked for a long time, but there were no signs of them…

Alain:"André, don´t worry…I´m sure we´ll find her…"

André:"Yeah…" he was worried…

At that moment André heard noises from the roof of a nearby building and looked up. He saw the terrorist jump from rooftop to the other. Soon Oscar followed him.

André:"Oscar."

Alain:"Hey, André, that´s…"

They ran to their horses and got on. André took a hold of Oscar´s horse Caesar and off they went. They rode as fast as possible to Oscar…

When they reached Oscar, she was standing in the street watching while the terrorists rode away…

André:"Oscar!" They rode to her.

Oscar turned to look:"André!"

Alain:"Let´s go after them!"

Oscar:"There´s no way we can catch them."

Alain:"Yeah? Just wait and see!"

Alain rode full speed after them.

Oscar:"Alain!"

She tried to yell, but he was too far away to hear…

André got off the horseback and went to Oscar. He embraced her…

André:"Oscar, what happened?"

Oscar:"The terrorists set fire on the carriage to make destruction and distract us. Meanwhile the leader was attacking the Duke and his family…I got there just in time to stop it, but he ran away. I tried to catch him, but he was too fast. And even if we would have gone riding after them, they would still have gotten away…"

André:"It´s better this way…You didn´t get hurt…My Oscar."

Oscar:"André…" she was happy in his arms…"This was it. Our job here is now done, for a while, at least."

André put his hand on her stomach and caressed it gently…Her pregnancy had already started to show.

Oscar:"André, I want to live in the countryside with you. I want to have a house in Arras…Not too big…and grandma…I want her to come along with us."

André:"Sounds like a plan." he smiled.

Oscar:"Tomorrow I will announce my resignation…Tomorrow, my love."

To be continued…


	24. Chapter 23

Chapter 23: The beginning of a new life

At the French Guard´s barracks…

Oscar and André were watching the troops review; the last one for them. It was a memorable moment; it was a sad moment, because they had to leave; but a happy moment, because they would start a new life…And soon they would have time to be together and soon they would have a child of their own…

The troop´s review was splendid as always, maybe even more than before…because this time everyone wanted to do his best…

Right after the troop's review, Oscar spoke few words for her group…Her men listened to her carefully as she was speaking…

Oscar:"When I was assigned as your Commander, I was warned about the rough manners of the Company. Where others might have been frightened, I took it as a challenge. I wanted to see the real you, my hopes were high…And I was right about you; you proved to be not only brave, but also loyal. You are very hard wording and tough. I have to say that you are the best Company I ever had the pleasure to command. I am very proud of you…" she smiled.

Oscar: "…As you already know, I will retire together with my husband, because we´re going to have a baby…" she continued and then looked at André. She gave him a gently smile full of radiance. He smiled back.

Everybody cheered…

"Thank you!" Oscar and André smiled.

Oscar: "…But don´t think that we are abandoning you; we will return, when the time is right and we´ll fight together with you." Oscar promised to her men.

Dagout:"Thank you, Commander." he said to Oscar…" You have done an excellent job; you have worked hard to improve the conditions here at the Barracks, you have gained men´s trust, which wasn´t an easy task. We…I think I can talk also on the behalf of everyone…wish you both all the best and hope that you will have a strong and healthy baby."

Oscar and André were touched by his words…"thank you!"they said.

After that day, Oscar and André retired from the military and moved to a house in Arras together with André´s grandma. Time went by so quickly as they spend their time together without worrying…They ate grandma´s delicious food she made from the local ingredients, enjoyed the fresh country air and socialized with the local people; They had become popular there since their honeymoon…they used to have garden parties, where they invited everyone from the village, and Oscar´s family doctor came there regularly to check both Oscar and the local people…

The time went far too fast…Soon it was time for the baby to be born…

André was walking back and forth in the room…Sometimes he stopped to look at the moon that shone brightly at the night sky. He could see it clearly from their window…Even if he didn´t walk, his hands were shaking…It was hot in there…Or maybe he just felt it was hot…He didn´t know or cared…He could think only one thing; Oscar was having a baby…their baby.

Then he started to walk again…He couldn´t stay still…Not a moment longer…

André:" Why does it take so long!?" he wondered…

It had been for hours now…At least that`s what he felt like. The baby had wanted to come into this world…

He was really nervous…"why can´t I be beside her?" he asked…"…My Oscar…" he had tried to stay with Oscar, but he was thrown out of the room, and ever since then he´s been walking back and forth…

His grandma his literally kicked him out…"We don´t need men right now!" she had said and slammed the door behind her…right in front of his eyes.

Then, finally…The moment he had been waiting for finally came…

He heard baby´s bawling…He was so relieved…It was a strong and loud bawling…the most beautiful sound he ever had heard.

André:"Oscar!"

He rushed straight to Oscar…When he opened the bedroom door, he saw Oscar alone in the room, lying in their bed and rushed to her. Grandma had taken the baby to its first bath…

André:"Oscar!" he said gently petting her hair.

Oscar:"André." she smiled to him…she looked tired, but happy.

André:"How are you doing?"

Oscar:"It wasn´t as awful as I have thought…" she became sentimental…"André… it was wonderful, when I heard our baby´s cry…"

André nodded…"Yeah, it was! A loud and clear voice…" he smiled and kissed her on her forehead…"Oscar, I love you…" he whispered…

Oscar:"I love you too, André…"

At the same time grandma came in holding the baby in her arms. She looked happy and touched…

Grandma:"Oscar! André! He is as lovely as an angel! Like a little prince!" she looked at him and smiled…

Oscar:"He? Did you hear that, André? We have a son!" she was happy.

"Yes, Oscar" André replied happily and walked to grandma…

Then grandma gave the baby to André…Tears of happiness fell down on his cheeks, when he held his son in his arms…He was a father now…

He walked to Oscar again carrying their just born baby in his lap…

André:"Look, Oscar…This is our son…" he said in a gentle voice showing the baby to Oscar…

He had beautiful bright blue eyes, that shone like the stars…His hair was as dark as his father´s. His white skin was beautiful…He was the most beautiful baby they had ever seen. He was their child in every way.

Oscar:"He´s perfect!" she cried.

André kissed his forehead…"Welcome to our family, little one…We are you're your parents…" he smiled…he was deeply touched…

Grandma cried:"I was there, when our Oscar was born…She was a beautiful baby, like a little princess…And now, I have witnessed the birth of your son…my great grandson!"

Oscar took him into her arms and kissed him…"François Grandier…That´s your name…Our little François…" Her eyes became wet…"We love you."

The baby stopped crying and looked at his mother´s eyes. He felt a warm lap surrounding him…It felt nice…

André:"Oh, look! Oscar, he is smiling!"

Oscar:"Yes, he is…Our little François is smiling to us." she was so happy…

The young family spent the entire night together, Oscar and André just wanted to hold their baby…Finally, François fell in sleep and André put him gently into his cradle and tucked him in. He kissed his son on his forehead…"Good night, sweetheart." he whispered and went to bed next to Oscar. He embraced her softly and they both fell in sleep right away.

Oscar had been careful and she hadn´t gotten any lung disease…She was living a healthy life and she felt better than ever before. She had had her rest from all her former duties and was energetic. She now wanted to concentrate on her family life…and on their new born baby boy…

To be continued…


	25. Chapter 24

Chapter 24: Dark clouds are gathering above France

Oscar´s nightmare seemed to come true after all…Despite of her countless efforts, she hadn´t been able to change the queen nor the king…They seemed to be more interested in pleasures than in their own people…For years France´s dept had increased; When France had helped the Americans fighting against the English, the costs almost taken France into a bankruptcy. The King Louis XVI responded to it by raising the taxes, and since the nobility and the clergy were freed from the direct taxes, the burden fell to the commonalty…

And the shortage of food made things even worse…

While the queen was having her elegant parties at Versailles, buying new dresses and jewels, the commoners were suffering from hunger…People´s sufferings grew and they started to be impatient…Something had to be done…and soon.

Oscar knew that, and when the Revolution would start, she would stand by her husband, André… Together they would fight with the people…she wanted to help to build a new, better France, where everybody would be free and equal…She wanted to have better life for the people, and for their son François…

The time had passed by quickly as Oscar and André were taking care of their son François…And the time of the Revolution drew nearer…

The opening of The État Généraux were held in 5.5.1789…With all the three estates; clergy, nobility and commonalty, were gathered there in the assembly hall to discuss the future of France…But soon troubles came along and the King Louis XVI ordered to close the entrance to the État Généraux, so that the delegates wouldn´t get in…

When the delegates couldn´t go into the assembly hall, they decided to go to Jeu de Paume instead…the Jeu de Paume…Paume, a predecessor of tennis, became popular in France at that time. Courts for the games built in many areas of the country…

Robespierre was there speaking to the people…"no force can crush our National Assembly! Everyone! Let us pledge with our hearts, hands, and our voices together as one! Our National Assembly, run by the People for the People, will never dissolve until the day comes that a Constitution for the People is enacted!"

June 20th. 1789, this was the famous "Tennis Court Oath" which marked the start of the French Revolution.

Oscar and André had sneaked in and were now sitting and listening to Robespierre…

Oscar:"Wow…That was amazing…" she was very touched by Robespierre´s speech…

André was holding their son in his arms…"Yeah…" he paused and then asked…"Is it time, Oscar? For us to go back to our men?"

Oscar looked at André and François…She was worried of what might happen to them…The two persons she loved the most…

Oscar:"Yes, it is…"

André kissed his son´s hair…"Oscar, when he will be as old as we are now, things are much better." he smiled.

Oscar shed a tear…"I hope so…I really hope so."

Soon, the king Louis XVI summoned the three estates to assemble again in order to resolve the chaotic situation…

It was raining, when the Army Colonel Choisielle la Baume was calling delegates inside one by one…The French Guards were keeping a peace there, while the crowd stood outside in the rain waiting for their names to be called…

La Baume:"Count Colage…Baron Mènier…Marquis Clair…Viscount Rossiar…" he was interrupted, when a man, whose name he hadn´t called, tried to go inside…

La Baume:"Just a moment, please. You are?" he stopped the man.

Caplegurne:"Tier- État delegate, Caplegurne."

La Baume:"Sorry, but please wait until I call your name…" then he continued reading names from his papers…"Next Marquis Antoire, please."

Another man tried to get inside, when la Baume stopped him…"Your name?"

Gymnoire:"Tiers-État delegate, Gymnoire."

La Baume:"I´m sorry, please wait." he told the man.

Soon everybody realized its oddness…"Hey, how come the Tiers-État delegates can´t go in?" someone from the crowd asked…"Yo! Let our delegates get inside now!" someone yelled…

Then, Oscar and André appeared among the crowd and walked to la Baume…Oscar was wearing her military uniform…The uniform of the Commander of the French Guards…

Everybody was amazed…The Guards were happy to see their Commander and her husband again…

Oscar:"Colonel Choisielle la Baume! Why, why don´t you call the Tiers-État delegates?!" she was frustrated…

La Baume:"Why…Isn´t is Brigadier Oscar François de Jarjayes? Didn´t you retire?!"

Oscar:"The name is Grandier! And no, I did not retire! As you can see, I´m back!" she shouted.

La Baume:"Oh, yes…I remember…You married your stableman…"

Oscar:"Yes! Since we are all equal, I think there´s nothing to wrong with that! And now let´s get to the point!"

La Baume:"So, you are on their side…" he wondered and then continued talking to Oscar…"All right…It´s an order. Only clergy and nobility can get in from the front entrance…"

Oscar couldn't wait any longer, but she grabbed him and threw him on the steps…Then she turned towards her men…

Oscar:"All French Guards! Open up all the front doors and guide the delegates inside!"

Alain smiled:"Hey, André! It´s good to have you back! How´s your baby?"

André:"We had a beautiful son…" he smiled.

Alain:"Really! That´s great! Congratulations! I hope you named him Alain!" he joked.

André laughed, and then said:"It´s François! And how´s your sister?"

Alain:"Great! She´s helping our mother and works hard. Sometimes she comes to visit me at the barracks."

Meanwhile the guards had ripped off the seals from the doors and were letting the delegates inside…

La Baume came towards Oscar…

La Baume:"Brigadier Grandier! Are you defying General de Bouille´s order?!"

Oscar:"I don´t mean to, Colonel la Baume. Calm down and observe the crowd."

They both looked at the crowd and the people did seem frustrated…

Oscar:"A riot will occur if they wait any longer in the rain."

La Baume:"But you are NOT in charge of the security here! You shouldn´t even BE here!"

Oscar yelled:"Go back and report this to General de Bouille!"

After la Baume had left, Colonel Dagout came to Oscar…

Dagout:"Commander and André, it´s nice to see you looking well…Did you come back?"

Oscar:"Yes, we did. These coming few weeks will be difficult, and we need to unite our assets."

Dagout:"How is your baby?"

André:"François is fine, thank you. We took him back to our manor to sleep." he smiled.

"A boy?! That´s just great!" the men cheered. They were happy that their Commander and her husband were back.

Later that day, a man came riding fast to search for Oscar. He told Oscar to bring her men to the headquarters in Versailles.

Oscar:"No! Tell General de Bouille, that I´m not coming!"

Dagout:"But, Commander! I think you really should go there."

Oscar:"It´s only a trap."

Dagout:"But still…You can get a serious punishment, if you don´t go."

Oscar looked at André…She didn´t know what to do…"André?"

André:"He is right. We should go."

Oscar nodded:"All right."

Soon, Oscar was standing in front of General de Bouille…

De Bouille:"You were supposed to be retired! Didn´t you just have a baby?!"

Oscar:"I´m back now! I´m capable of taking care of my Company again."

De Bouille:"Fine! You and your French Guards Company B will be dismissed from the current guarding duty. And I shall talk to your father about your sudden reappearing!"

Oscar:"Why are you doing this?!"

De Bouille:"Why? Arbitrarily opening the front door of the assembly hall would normally be considered as disobeying my order. You would have been arrested and court-martialed. But I´m forgiving you, if you retire the military at once! And never return!"

Oscar:"I´m not afraid of the military court!" she turned away and started to walk towards the door…"I´d like to leave now. My men are waiting for me."

De Bouille:" I´ll give you a chance to prove you´re worthy…I have an order for you. The French Guards´ Company B will fully arm itself and immediately head back to the assembly hall…and remove all the members of the National Assembly Faction! Use force on those who resist, no matter what they say. If you must, you may open fire on them and kill them."

Oscar:"But, Your Excellency! They are the representatives of the French people! You´re ordering me to point guns at them?!I will not!"

De Bouille:"Then you leave me no choice. I will have to arrest you for treason."

De Bouille`s men came towards Oscar and pointed their guns at her…

To be continued…


	26. Chapter 25

Chapter 25: A domestic crisis at de Jarjayes´manor

Everyone in the room pointed their guns at Oscar…

De Bouille:"I will give my order directly to your men. "he stepped towards Oscar…"Don´t let her step out of this room until I give further instructions."

La Baume:"Yes, Your Excellency!" he replied. He was a perfect watchdog…

When de Bouille stepped into the corridor, there was nobody there. He thought it was strange, somehow…he didn´t quite know why…As if he had expected there to be a man…Then he continued to walk…

Oscar had to see, how her men would react to de Bouille, so she walked to the window.

La Baume:"Don´t move!" he yelled pointing his gun at her…"Stay away from the window. Face this way!"

Oscar:"I will not resist. I just want to see what´s out the window, Colonel la Baume." she told him while facing the window.

La Baume:"All right. Raise your hands then."

Oscar:"Okay."

Oscar raised her hands, so that the men could see those. That wasn´t enough to sure the men of her harmlessness; they took her sword away, too.

She was watching, while General de Bouille gave orders to her men outside…

De Bouille:"…Company B will fully equip itself and charge into the Ètats-Généraux, then remove all those who occupy the assembly hall illegally."

Alain:"What?!" he was shocked…

De Bouille:"Go back to the barracks, equip yourselves and reassemble here in ten minutes! Why are you just standing? Go now, run!"

De Bouille yelled and the men obeyed, but then Alain stopped them…

Alain:"Guys, wait! We promised our Commander Oscar that we would wait here for her! Don´t move from here until she comes back!"

They stood still listening what Alain had to say…

De Bouille:"What are you all doing?! Are you disobeying an order from the highest commander in the Army?!"

Alain:"I don´t care if you´re the highest commander." …he turned towards other men of his company…" Don´t listen to what this jerk says! We´ll only take orders from our Commander!"

That made de Bouille angry…He got angrier, when he noticed eleven other men joining Alain…

Alain:"As you see, Your Excellency, Alain de Soisson and eleven others are officially defying your order."

Oscar watched while those twelve men were arrested on the spot and taken away. Soon de Bouille came back…

Oscar turned around to look at the General de Bouille…

De Bouille:"Your men are just as stubborn as you are. You´ve trained them far too well!"

Oscar:"Where are you taking my men?"

De Bouille:"To the prison at Abbey. I will demand all twelve be shot to death in a military court."

Oscar already knew the answer, so she wasn´t surprised…She was rather angry, because the punishments were far too often too harsh for the crime…Execution, because they didn´t obey his ridiculous order?!

De Bouille continued:"As for you, your commission will be forfeited and you will be detained in an army cell until His Majesty metes out a punishment."…He turned towards his men and said:"Take her away!"

Oscar:"General de Bouille! Punishing me will suffice, but it´s a big mistake to execute those twelve men!" she yelled.

De Bouille:"No, they will serve as a warning to the others. Any further breach of military discipline brews a crisis for the entire French military."

He was just about to leave, when Oscar said:"One more thing! Charging into the assembly hall with armed force will leave an unforgivable blemish on France´s History!" she yelled angrily.

De Bouille was annoyed:"I think what´s worse is the sit-in by the National Assembly faction. No need to worry, the Royal Guards will remove the rebels."

After saying that, he left the room and when he walked down the corridor…André appeared from the shadows and watched quietly as the general walked away.

Meanwhile Oscar grabbed a man´s gun…"What are you doing?!"

Oscar:"Sorry, but you´ll have to let me go." Then she threw the man aside and disarmed another. She started to run towards the door, but the men tackled her onto the floor.

Oscar:"André!" she yelled.

André rushed in …"Oscar!" he yelled. He saw the men taking her towards the window.

Oscar:"André!"

André:"Oscar!" he shouted and took a rifle from the floor. He charged towards the men and threw the rifle at them, so that Oscar got away. Then they ran out of the room and headed towards the assembly hall…

On June 23rd, 1789, delegates supporting the National Assembly remained in the assembly hall of the États-Généraux, ignoring the order from the French king to dissolve…

The Royal Guards had arrived at the assembly hall and were now facing the delegates, who were standing outside…

Gerodère:"I´m the Royal Guards Regiment Commander, Colonel Gerodère! To the delegates of the National assembly in the assembly hall: If you continue to occupy the hall, you will be considered traitors who have disobeyed the king´s order. The Royal Guards Regiment will have no resort to the use of force."…he took his sword from the sheath…"Prepare to charge!" he ordered his men, who took the positions and were ready to fire…

The nobles tried to reason with him, but it was in vain. His men were about to open fire, when Oscar and André stopped them…They rode between those two parties…

Oscar:"Retreat! Retreat, retreat!" she shouted.

They stopped their horses between the delegates and the Royal Guards.

Oscar:"Gerodère, do you have the courage to take my sword? Everyone in the Royal Guards, do you have the courage to put a bullet through my heart?!" she yelled looking at men in the Royal Guards.

No one dared to move or say anything…

Then she spread her arms and shouted:"Fire! If you point your guns at unarmed delegates of the Tiers-État, you´ll have to step over my corpse first!"

There was a moment of silence…Then Gerodère put his sword away…

Gerodère:"Madame, please sheathe your sword. How can we fire at you, our former Commander? How can we become such cowards who would point guns at unarmed people in front of you? We´ll wait until the day they take up arms…"

Then the Royal Guards rode away…Everyone seemed to be relieved.

Oscar and André had won this battle, but soon much worse would come in their way…

When Oscar and André returned to their home, they went straight to see their son. But when they opened the door and walked towards his bed, it was empty…He wasn't there. They searched the whole room, but he was nowhere to be found…

For some reason they knew that something was not quite right…Oscar remembered that in her nightmare, her Father had freaked out after the incident and now she was afraid that he might take it on François…André knew what Oscar was thinking…He was worried too…They panicked…

Oscar was shocked:"Where is he?! Where´s our son?!"

André:"Oscar, don´t worry! We´ll find him. I´ll search the mansion."

Oscar:"I´ll ask grandma, if she knows anything."

Oscar ran straight to grandma´s room…the door was ajar, and she saw grandma crying…

Oscar:"Grandma! What´s wrong?!Where´s François?!"

Grandma:"Your father took him. He was angry with you and he called you a traitor!" she cried…"He said that "Damn Oscar! I have François now!"….He said he´ll take your son and raise him to be a general…"

Oscar was shocked:"What?!"

General de Jarjayes had heard of his daughters actions and he had been scolded about that…someone had suggested that the whole de Jarjayes family should be throwing out of France….Someone else had said that it would be natural to disqualify the de Jarjayes from nobility…

The general was very disappointed with his daughter…He had even thought killing her with his own hands, but then a thought came into his mind: What if he still could raise a boy as his successor? A boy would never disappoint him…But where could he find a boy to qualify the job? Then he thought of François…His grandson…He would throw his daughter and her husband out of the manor and raise the boy the way he wanted…

To be continued…


	27. Chapter 26

Chapter 26: Our beloved François

Grandma cried:"I´m sorry!I tried to protect him, but…" she said to Oscar.

Oscar:"It´s not your fault." she said and then ran out of the room…

Oscar ran to look for André as she had always done, whenever she was in trouble. He had always come to help her…

Oscar:"André! André!" she yelled with her desperate voice.

And soon André came to her…"Oscar!"

Oscar:"André!" she buried her head into his chest…"My father have taken François!"

André was surprised…"What?!"

Oscar cried:"He wants to raise our son to be a general!"

André:"What?!"

Oscar wept:"It´s all my fault! He´s angry with me and now he wants our son…I should have protected François!..." she looked into André´s eyes…"Can you ever forgive your wife?"

André answered in a gentle voice:"There´s nothing to forgive, Oscar. You did nothing wrong."

Oscar though that she was lucky to have a husband like André…He was always so gentle and loving…Unlike her own father…When she thought of what he had done, she got angry…

Oscar:"I will not allow my father to raise our son!" she was going to rush into her father´s study…"My father used to beat me and treat me badly! He always wanted me to do the way he wanted!" she pressed her fist…"He will NOT beat our son!"

Oscar was about to storm into general´s study, when André grabbed her, took her into his arm and kissed her passionately. He kissed her so long, that she calmed down. He always knew, how to calm her down…Right now, it was utmost important to get her to calm down…Knowing that both Oscar and the general were short-tempered, he thought that the situation could go badly, if Oscar had a tantrum…

André looked deep into Oscar´s eyes…Then she knew that she had to be calm.

André:"Keep calm, Oscar. Don´t worry, we´ll get him back…Just leave this to me, okay?"

"Okay" she said and nodded. Then she took his hand…They walked to the general´s room and then André knocked on the door…

André:"Sir, we are coming in now." he said and opened the door…

They saw François in general´s arms…Thank God, he was all right. They were both relieved…

André:"Why don´t we all sit down, please."

After they were seated, the General started to talk…

General:"Oscar! Take off your insignia of rank and the medal the king gave you! Then, leave this place at once!"

Oscar didn´t say anything, because she didn´t want to provoke him…She trusted André to take care of this…

André:"All right, Sir. And then what?"

General:"I´m going to raise François…" he looked at his grandson, who had been cheerful all this time…He reminded more of his father; he never raged… He even looked more like his father; he had his father´s dark brown hair…But his sapphire eyes were clearly from Oscar…"He will be a fine general! The finest in all of France!"

André:"There´s no doubt about that."

General:"Being loyal to the king no matter what happens is the tradition of de Jarjayes family!"

André nodded:"Yes…You had had generations of the finest generals, who had always protected the king and the Royal Family no matter what."…André looked a bit sad…"It´s just too bad…"

General:"What is?!"

André:" That our king doesn´t love his people…"

General:"What?!" he was starting to get angry again…How could André talk that way about the king?

André:"As much as I´d like my son to protect His Majesty, I´m afraid He wouldn´t allow it…At least, if the world continues to be the same…"

General:"What do you mean?!"

André:"Do you think that the king would allow a son of a stableman to protect His Royal Family?"

General was shocked…He never even thought about that…Ever since François was born, he was happy to have a grandson like him; the General really loved him…But it was true; André had been a stableman…

André:"Right now we are living in the world of social classes, where is no chance for a stableman´s son to succeed in the military career…He would never be allowed to become a general…In fact, he wouldn´t stand a chance in many places at all…"

General was upset…For the first time he realized, how unjust this world was…He hadn´t really noticed it before, because it never really concerned him…But now, it played a major part in his grandson´s life…

General:"I just want him to be happy…" his eyes became wet from tears…

André:"The New Age will come, where all the people will be equal. There, he´ll have a chance to do anything, there he´ll be the finest general in France."

General:"Are you saying that we should fight against His Majesty?"

André:"I´m afraid, it´s the only way…He won´t allow any changes to happen…In this world a commoner will remain a commoner…and the poor people will only suffer…"

General looked at his grandson again and kissed his hair…"Go to your father." he said in a gentle voice and handed François over to André.

Oscar was so happy; that she rushed to André and kissed him and then she kissed François, who smiled radiantly and laughed…This all had just being fun for him…He was still so young that he didn´t understand, what had just happened…

Just then, grandma came in with a messenger…

Messenger:"By the words of Her Majesty. There will be no punishment for Brigadier Oscar François Grandier nor de Jarjayes family. She expects your continued loyalty to the Royal Family."

Few days later Oscar and André had taken François to see Rosalie and Bernard…They were sitting around the table talking…

Oscar:"We´d like to ask you a favor, Bernard."

Bernard:"Okay, anything that I can…"

They talked about their plan of how to rescue those twelve men, who were to be executed…

Bernard:"What? Surround Abbey Prison? Did I hear your mother right, François?" he looked at the little boy.

Oscar:"Yes, you did."

Rosalie looked at François, who was in Oscar´s lap…"He has grown a lot!"

Oscar laughed:"Yes, he has! He has his father´s appetite!"

Bernard:"André, are you sure this will work?"

André:"Yes. You should be able to rally citizens. We´ll need a three-thousand."

Bernard:"I can probably do that. But will it help to save your men?"

Oscar:"I am the Commander in charge of the French Guards, who are responsible for the security of Paris. If I judge the security of Paris is in danger, I can request the release of the twelve men to the king." she said and petted her son´s hair.

Bernard:"I see, that´s a good idea. We need someone clever like you on our commoner´s side."

Oscar:"Will you do it?"

Bernard:"There´s one problem. What if it turns into a riot?"

Oscar:"We promise that no one from your group or any citizen will get hurt or die. If I break my promise, I will quit the French Guards and run errands or do whatever for you."

Bernard:"Okay. I´ll do it."

At the Palais Royale Plaza, the French Guards were guarding the rally…Lots of people had come to listen to what Bernard Châtelet had to say…

Bernard:"Ladies and gentlemen, you all know that our sons, yes, the sons of us commoners are in the hateful military. And twelve of our sons are about to be executed, without properly tried in a military court!"

Among the crowd, there was a man, who had evil plans…, Saint-Just, the leader of the terrorist group, was targeting Oscar…He was staring at her…

Saint-Just was speaking to his men:"That´s the Security Commander. Let´s kill that one. With the Commander dead, they´ll forbid the citizens from rallying…The citizens will riot with rage…All we need to do is to direct the riot toward Versailles."

Bernard:"Comrades! Let us head to Abbey Prison now and demand the release of those twelve men!" he inspired the crowd.

Just at the same time, Sait-Just was ready to attack Oscar…He took his dagger out from his pocket…

To be continued…


	28. Chapter 27

Chapter 27:Necker has been dismissed!

Saint-Just took a dagger and got closer to Oscar…He was about to attack her, when she turned around and saw him…And in the last minute Oscar managed to dodge his attack. She grabbed his hand and they struggled so fiercely, that she fell off the horse.

Saint-Just was trying to stab her with his dagger, but she fought back…Although Oscar was a woman, she did have some strength to fight against a man even without her sword…

They were struggling on the ground, while André was looking for her…

André:"Oscar! Oscar!" he had lost a sight of her and was beginning to worry…He was supposed to help her to catch the terrorist…He searched for her, but couldn't find her…"Oscar! Where are you?!"

Meanwhile Oscar had descended downwards with Saint-Just. She was now fighting with the terrorist in the sewer…He attacked her again, but she fought back. She managed to split his mask in two, so that it almost fell off from his face…He then hit his face with his hand and ran away.

Oscar:"Halt!" she yelled and threw her sword after him.

Soon after André came running to her…"Oscar! I´m sorry, I wasn´t here to help you…I lost sight of you"…he was upset…"Now, he got away again…"

Oscar:"André, maybe it was better that you weren´t here. He is capable of anything and he might have hurt you."

André:"He might have hurt you."

Oscar:"But he didn´t. André, how´s our plan? Is it working?"

André:"We´ve succeeded! Over five-thousand citizens have surrounded the Abbey!" he smiled.

She looked at him and smiled back.

So, the plan to catch the Leader of the Terrorists ´group failed…But, at least, the other plan had worked…

Few days later in Paris…

Outside the Abbey Prison Oscar and André were waiting for their men…as were many other people…waiting for their sons to set free again…Soon, Alain and eleven other men from the French Guards walked out of the prison…

Oscar:"Alain, this is not the power of Bernard, much less mine. It is all the power of the people."

She shook hands with Alain, who smiled. He was relieved to get out of the prison with his friends.

June 30th, 1789, the citizens of Paris got back their twelve soldiers. The victory won by the people was just a small undulation before the big wave…

The people were celebrating…They were happy over the victory…Little did they know, that from there on, things got even worse…The queen had her own plans…She had released those twelve men only to avoid turning Paris into a place of chaos…Soon she and the king would turn the army against the people…

Later in Versailles…

Oscar had gone to Versailles to meet the queen…She wanted to thank Her Majesty for the mercy for not punishing her…

The queen was sitting on a chair…She was talking about the things that had happened to her recently…

Queen:"Only a handful of nobles visit the Court nowadays. We didn´t have enough money for the funeral of Louis Joseph, so we sold off our silver ware and golden candlesticks…"

They talked a while about their families, but soon the conversation turned towards the events that had occurred recently in Paris…

Queen:"We both suffer in this uncomfortable time. But everything will settle down soon." the queen told Oscar about her plans of dealing with the "problems"…" The Royal Army is now heading to Paris and Versailles from all over the country. The Light Cavalry Regiment from southern France, the Royale Clavert Regiment from Charenton…Over a hundred thousand soldiers in all. I ordered it as the queen of France…in order to dissolve the National Assembly and prepare for riots of the commoners. The Louis Dynasty is invincible! We won´t be shaken by such things!"

Oscar was down…Thinking how come the queen of France could turn the guns towards her own people…How could the Royal Family ignore the people´s distress? Their hunger? ... She was thinking of the oncoming storm…that would shake everything… She wasn´t afraid to die…But she was afraid to lose the closest persons to her; André and François…she hadn´t been able to stop the Revolution from happening, but she still could have give her everything to the people and to her family…

Queen:"…the French Guards will be put on alert, sooner or later…" she told Oscar.

The queens Army troops arrived soon into Paris…

In July, Royal Army troops arrived; one after another…The situation grew more hostile suddenly in July. Soldiers armed with rifles stood everywhere in town, coercing citizens. And there was another serious problem... Since an army of over 100 000 was gathered in Paris, overpopulation caused severe food shortages around the city. Hatred and hunger wiped away any smiles from the people…They all had hopes for Jacques Necker to solve this problem…He was their last hope…

Jacques Necker, the Minister of Finance, had called to Versailles again to solve the problems France was facing. He tried to convince the King Louis XVI to make reforms…

Necker:"I´ll say it again and again! We can´t go against the tides of the times. Instead of suppressing, please approve the National assembly and compromise for a talk. And we must have a reform in order to resolve this financial crisis!"

Man:"What kind of reform are you planning?!"

Necker:"A reform in monarchy. It´s no longer possible for the king to run France by himself. Our country won´t prosper without a parliamentary government based on the cooperation from the new political force."

Man:"What do you mean by the "new political force" are mere commoners. Are you saying His Majesty should walk side by side with the commoners?!"

Necker:"Exactly! Does anyone of us, who support His Majesty, have the power to resolve this crisis?!" he was angry.

Of course, he was right…But the king and the queen thought differently…There was no way they would give power to the people…And on 11th of July Necker was dismissed…

The news of Necker´s dismissal spread rapidly…

Maximilian Robespierre made a public speech in Paris…he stood in a balcony, while hundreds of people were gathered around to listen to him...Even Oscar and André were there with their son…

Robespierre:"I´ve only got two arms, but the passion and courage for my country is burning, like a fire strong enough to burn down Versailles Palace! People, let´s work hand in hand! Let´s fight as one!" he shouted.

Oscar:"This is it. Soon it will begin…the Revolution."

André:"Yeah…Oscar…" he looked at his wife.

Oscar:"André…"

They looked into each other´s eyes…They were determined to fulfill their destiny…

André:"I will always be near you…I will always follow you."

Oscar shed a tear…"André…" she continued to talk…"I will try once more to convince the queen to withdraw the Army from Paris…"

Although Oscar did try her best to convince the queen to withdraw the Army, but the queen refused…Oscar walked away…"Au revoir" she said…It was the last time they ever talked…They both went into their separate ways…

To be continued…


	29. Chapter 28

Chapter 28: Destined to be together

At de Jarjayes´ manor…

The morning of July 12th, 1789…

"The Finance Minister Mr. Jacques Necker was dismissed the day prior. A false rumor of a massacre of patriots spread and people began to arm themselves. There´s no distinction between day and night in Paris. People carry sticks, swing knives, and run around the back alleys. The 100 000 soldiers gathered in Paris build bonfires and yell at the citizens. Such restraint…Oscar had returned home to us and is now standing by. Colonel Dagout promised to send a messenger, if something happens…But we already know that tomorrow we will be departing…We will go to the Bastille…"

André was lying on his bed and writing in his diary, when Oscar interrupted him…

Oscar:"André!"

André:"What is it, Oscar?" he turned towards Oscar.

Oscar:"We should start packing."

André:"Already? Very well then."

He got up from bed and went downstairs. They were packing for the trip to the countryside. Oscar and André had decided to give François to his grandparents, who would take him to safety. It was only temporary, because both Oscar and André were going to come back…"We can´t die now, François is still very young and we´re going to look after him" Oscar had said…

In Paris…In the afternoon, growing groups finally began to move. The waves of people echoed thunderously for freedom. Waves can even change the shape of boulders on the shore…The crowd broke through areas scantily guarded by the military. Caches of food of traders by the Seine were raided to fill their stomachs. Seeking guns next, they headed toward mansions and caches of Parisian arm dealers.

Back in the de Jarjayes´ mansion Oscar was talking with her father…

Oscar:"Just take care of him!" she asked him.

General:"I will. I will protect him with my life, I promise you that."

Oscar was about to burst into tears…It was difficult for her to leave François, but she knew it had to be done…They couldn´t take him along where they were going…

At that moment, André came in…

André:"Everything is ready now." he told them…

It was time for Grandma and Oscar´s parents to leave with François…They were abandoning the mansion…The general had decided to fight against the Royal Family and support his daughter and his son-in-law…Come whatever, but he was willing to risk everything for the sake of his grandson…

General turned towards André…"André." he said.

André:"Yes, sir."

General:"I just want to tell you one thing. You are as dear to me as my own son. Don´t die. Promise me, you´ll come back."

André:"Of course!" he smiled.

General turned towards Oscar "…and that goes for you too, Oscar."

Oscar had hard time holding her tears…"I promise, that we´ll come back."

Then they walked to the carriage, where Oscar and André said goodbye to their son…

Oscar held him near and kissed his forehead…Now, she couldn´t stop the tears…It was hard for her as it was hard for André...He too, became sad and shed tears…

When grandma took François away from Oscar, the boy started to cry…He sensed that something weird was going on…He cried as loud as he could, but it didn't help: he was carried into the carriage…

Oscar still could hear François´s cry from the carriage even it had started to move and was just about to vanish from her sight. André held her tight in his arms and tried to comfort her, although he had hard time himself…They both cried…

Later that day…

The sun had already started to set down; when Alain and couple of other men from the French Guards came into de Jarjayes´manor…They had an urgent message for Oscar and André…

Alain:"Commander! I have a report from Colonel Dagout!"

Oscar and André were standing side by side on the second floor…They were looking at Alain…They knew, why he had come.

Oscar:"Alain, you came…"

Alain:"Reporting! There was an order from headquarters: At 8 O´clock tomorrow morning, French Guards Company B will equip and advance to Tuileries Square. Suppress the armed rioters in cooperation with other regiments."

Oscar:"Finally, the word has given."

Alain:"Indeed."

Oscar looked at André and then turned her gaze down…"Thanks. Go on back to barracks. We´ll soon follow."

Alain walked away and returned to the Barracks. Oscar and André were also getting ready to leave…

Soon, Oscar and André was on their way to the barracks…They were riding, when they came across a group of citizens going to the Invalides to get guns…

Oscar:"André, quickly. We need to cross the river, right now…before another group finds out about us."

She steered her horse into the river and André did the same with his horse…They managed to avoid the angry crowd…

So they crossed the river safely and carried on their journey on foot. They had to make a detour, because there were yet another group of citizens gathering in the woods…

They came near a river, where they stopped…It was the same spot where they…had spend their "wedding" night in Oscar´s nightmare…She felt sentimental…As if it had really happened…

Oscar:"André, why don´t we turn back to the mansion, so that you can go after François?"

André:"And leave you? No way! I know that François is in good hands, he´ll be fine. "

Oscar walked towards André and said in a loving voice:"Please do so, André. I can´t let anything happen to you, I love you so much. I…I couldn´t live without you." she cried.

André:"I´ll go with you, Oscar. Like I always did, and always will. I´m always with you." he smiled mildly.

Oscar was so touched that she started to cry; she held him near and cried on his shoulders…

Oscar:"André…" she started…"Your hair is like black grapes, your eyes shining like obsidian…My chest kicks up a fuss at your nostalgic scent… " she needed to say these words for him…"If love was made so that one´s heart would be filled with these thoughts everyday…I cannot live on my own any longer…"

André:"Oscar…"

They looked deep into each other´s eyes and then started to kiss…

André:"I love you to the ends of Earth…I´ve held your faint breath in my palm countless times, sometimes it burned, sometimes it blinded. In my endless dream you are frozen forever in a sepia-colored fossil…"

Their kisses became more and more passionate…Soon they were lying on the grass caressing each other…

Oscar:"…the lips I know are passionate and pliant. They crept in and pressed my lips softly. The kiss I know…"

There was magic in the air…Just like she remembered…

They took their clothes off…the water in the river shone like crystal beside them…

Fireflies flew around creating a very romantic atmosphere for the lovers…It was a magical night…Everything was so beautiful…Right at that moment everything seemed to be great and perfect…

To be continued…


	30. Chapter 29

Chapter 29: The start of the Revolution

13th, July, 1789…

The dawn had already broken and the sun was rising…After their romantic night together Oscar and André continued their way to the barracks. They rode together side by side...

As Oscar and André arrived to the barracks and entered the room of their men, everyone turned to look at them. The men gathered around to listen to Oscar…Oscar walked to the table in the middle of the room and André followed her. Then she started to talk…And the men listened to her carefully…

Oscar:"As you already might know, we will proceed to the Tuileries Square in Paris at 8 a.m. Our mission is to contain the armed crowd. But if a riot starts, we must open fire and suppress it…" she was interrupted by Colonel Dagout, who entered the room that moment…She turned to look…

Dagout:"Please, continue." he said. He stayed near the door and listened to her carefully…

Oscar turned again towards her men and continued:"Your parents or siblings are probably amongst those in the crowd. Even if I give an order to fire, you probably won´t pull the trigger. I´ll say what I think…" she paused for a moment before continuing…"No, I´ll say which path I should take. It´s entirely a personal decision. I resign as your commander. Because the man I love and trust won´t fire at the people, just like all of you. I´ll follow what he says. We´ll fight together with the people."

André:"Oscar…"

Oscar turned to look at André and smiled. Her smile was full of love …He responded to her smile…And for a while, they only saw each other…

Alain jumped over the table and interrupted Oscar and André…

Alain:"Commander, you don´t have to resign. We discussed and decided before you came…If a battle should begin; we´ll quit the French Guards and join the Revolution! You don´t have to quit. We´ll fight with the citizens under your command!"

Alain offered her his hand and Oscar took it. They shook hands…"It´s a deal then!" Oscar said.

"Commander!" everybody yelled, they were happy that she had joined them. Only one man stood all still and quiet…Colonel Dagout hadn´t said a word ever since he came in…Oscar turned towards him…

Oscar:"Colonel Dagout."

Dagout:"Yes, Madame."

She walked to him…"You´re a noble. I don´t think you´ll join us." she said to the colonel.

Dagout:"No, I can´t!"

Oscar:"You´re free to report to the headquarters what you´ve just heard." she told him.

Dagout:"I intend to report it. However…" he started to walk towards the door…The men started to follow him, but Alain stopped them…

Alain:"Wait! Listen till he finishes." he told them.

Dagout:"I´ll be absent without leave today. I´ll report probably tomorrow or later. Please take care of yourselves." he said and walked away from the room.

Oscar:"Colonel Dagout…" she watched, while he walked away…

The men ran after the colonel to see him going…

Alain:"I thought he was just hard-headed and square...Thanks, Colonel." he smiled.

Soon, everyone took their rifles and amounted on their horses. It was time to head to Paris…

Meanwhile…

Paris, 8 a.m.

Both soldiers and citizens were gathered at the Tuileries Square…They were standing against each other staring angrily at one another…The atmosphere was very intense…

The commander of those soldiers, a man named Lambesse was wondering where the crowd had got their guns…

Soldier:"Sir, they raided the armory of Invalides last night, and stole 2,300 guns! And besides…The Black Knight had stolen some guns before…" he replied.

A man stepped forth from the crowd…he was more than frustrated…"Listen, King´s hounds! We´ve got guns! Clear the way or you´ll be hurt! Move, tax robbers!" he yelled at the soldiers…"Go back to your own country!" he made a soldier mad…The soldier was ready to fire his rifle at any moment…

Then, a woman and a boy ran to the man…"That´s enough. It´s no use to rile the soldiers." the woman said…

Man:"Yeah, I guess." he replied and pet his son´s hair.

They turned around and started to walk back to the crowd…"Morons!" the man yelled to the soldiers…Then, without warning…the soldier shot the boy into the back…

Everyone was shocked…How could a soldier shoot an innocent boy to the back?! What kind of a person would do something like that? The boy had done nothing wrong.

The boy fell on to the ground dead…

Woman: "Michael! Michael!" the woman went to the boy and cried. She was terrified.

The citizens got angry…That was enough…"Get them!" they yelled and charged towards the soldiers.

Lambesse:"Fire!Fire!Fire!" he told his men, who shot at the people who were coming towards them.

Many men and women fell dead on to the ground…It was horrible to look at…Bodies of men, women and children were lying around everywhere, but the people still kept on running towards the soldiers even, when they had no chance to win…

July 13th, 1789: A lone soldier´s shot triggered the French Revolution…marred by ghastly battles in which one bloodshed was retaliated by another.

Meanwhile Oscar and André were riding towards Paris with their men, when a soldier rode towards them…It was one of her men, who had been sent to check the situation in Paris…

Soldier:"Commander! " he yelled…"Commander Oscar! The Army has started firing at the people!" he joined them and continued his report as they continued to ride towards Paris…Oscar listened carefully to his report.

Soldier:"Paris is now a battlefield! They´re firing indiscriminately at those who are not armed. The Tuileries Square is now a pool of blood!"

They were hurrying to the square…where the fighting still continued…The people were armed with guns, but not organized. They were of no match to fight head-on against the overwhelming firepower of the army.

There were citizens' ´corpses everywhere …lying around the square…This wasn´t working…at all…Bernard and Rosalie were amongst the citizens and saw the catastrophe…Bernard couldn´t just stand by and watch…he had to do something…and quickly.

Bernard:"Withdraw for now! Don´t increase the number of injured!" he yelled to the people and then turned to Rosalie…"Rosalie, are you all right?" he asked her.

Rosalie:"I´m fine, Bernard." she answered him.

Bernard:"Let´s go."

They joined the crowd, who were walking away from the square. All of a sudden, Oscar and André with their men came across the crowd…"It´s the French Guards! We´re trapped by the French Guards! Damn!" someone yelled…They were preparing to fight.

The crowd thought that they had encountered an enemy…and a fierce one…

July 13th 1789…Was a day of great importance to André Grandier…What would happen to him? Could Oscar save him? Could she save her husband…the man she loved more than anything?

To be continued…


	31. Chapter 30

Chapter 30: 13th of July 1789

In the streets of Paris…

Oscar and her French Guards had encountered the people of Paris. They were on the move, and when they saw Oscar and her men, they got ready to fight…

Oscar raised her hand and said:"Wait! We have no intention to fight you." she told the crowd.

Man:"Not intending to fight? What do you mean?" he was surprised.

Oscar:"We could have fired at you as you were retreated." she reasoned with them.

Man:"Well, I guess so…"

Oscar:"Please let us through!" she asked him.

Man:"Hey, let them through!" he yelled to the crowd and they let them through…Rosalie noticed Oscar passing by…"Lady Oscar" she said…

Oscar and André and their men came to the square…They witnessed that horrible sigh: There were dead bodies all over the square…Bodies of the people of France…Of ordinary people…

They continued to the other side of the square, where the German Cavalry Regiment was standing still…As Oscar approached them, they asked Oscar…"You men must be French Guards Company B!"

Lambesse:"I´m Lambesse, Commander of the German Cavalry Regiment! Report your title and rank." he said to Oscar.

Oscar:"I´m Oscar François…" she said her name and then continued…"but I have no title or rank." then she raised her right hand to signal the men to raise their guns…Lambesse were shocked…The French Guards were pointing their rifles at them…

Oscar:"Please retreat, Sir Lambesse. Otherwise, we´ll have to open fire on you." she told him.

Lambesse:"What are you doing?"

Oscar:"As of today, we´ve all quit the French Guards Company B." she explained.

Lambesse was surprised:"What?!"

Alain:"It´s true. Are you going to retreat or not? Give your answer!" he shouted.

Lambesse panicked and told his men to retreat and so they rode away…The crowd had watched them from a distance all along…

Oscar took her rank badge into her hand…"I won´t be needing this rank badge anymore." she said and threw that away on to the ground…

André:"Oscar!" he wanted her to know, that the people were coming their way…all the former French Guards turned towards the crowd…

A man asked Oscar…"Are you saying that you´ll fight with us?!"

Oscar:"Exactly." she answered.

Man:"I can´t trust you. How could I?! Not even a bullet was fired just now." he was suspicious.

"Hey! Ain´t that the woman, who invited us all to her wedding way back when? She married one of us!" someone from the crowd asked.

"Yeah! That´s right! "someone else said…"She´s one of us! We can trust them!" they said…So both Oscar and André got off from their horses and walked to the crowd, who cheered…Soon, Bernard and Rosalie came to them…

Bernard:"Welcome, Oscar François and André." …he shook their hands.

Then they all, both the crowd and the former French Guards followed Bernard and shook hands… They all got to know each other…And now they had joined their forces together.

Oscar and André were talking with Bernard and Rosalie, when a man ran to them…

"About five hundred soldiers of the Allemande Regiment are coming!" he said…Oscar ran to her horse and got on again…

Oscar:"Former French Guards, all mount!" she yelled and so they did…And so did André…

Bernard ran to Oscar…"Wait, Oscar. What are you going to do?"

Oscar:"We´ll seize the offensive first and stop their advance. Meanwhile, you build a barricade in this square." she gave him an advice.

Bernard:"A barricade?"

Oscar:"Yes, with a barricade, you can fight evenly with fewer weapons with the Army, okay?"

Bernard:"I see, Okay."

Oscar:"Then…" Oscar started to ride…"All advance!" she yelled and so they followed her…

Meanwhile the people started to build a barricade…

Soon, Oscar and André were watching the Regiment passing by a further away from them. Oscar and her men were in higher ground; so that the Regiment hadn´t noticed them…This was it…The moment that meant so much for Oscar…She had to succeed…

For the first time Oscar and her men had just lured the Regiment to follow them in order to save the crowd. But they were being pocketed by the two Regiments…half of her men had died and the worst had happened: André had been killed…This time she couldn´t let that happen…The only way-both to save André, the crowd and even spare few of her men-was to attack the Regiment here and now. Engaged into a battle with them…Even thought Oscar had fewer men; she would have a surprise attack on her side…

Oscar:"Listen! Attack them and engage yourself into a battle! Don´t spare anyone! Even if they outnumber us, we have the surprise on our side!" she told to her men.

So, they attacked the regiment, who indeed was surprised and the battle between life and dead begun…Soon, it started to be clear that Oscar was wining… the remaining men of the Regiment started to run away…

When Oscar noticed that, she immediately decided that was enough for now…"Leave them! Let´s retreat!" she yelled to her men…Now, she was seeking André among her men…

Oscar:"André!" she yelled. She wanted to make sure that he was all right.

André:"Oscar!" he replied and came to her. He was unharmed.

She was so happy to see him…"André…" she wanted to run into his arms, but she knew she couldn´t do that. It wasn´t save…Not before they were back to the barricade.

Oscar:"All right, let´s head back!" she told everyone.

Then they rode back to the square…

Both Oscar and André had survived the fierce battle and were now settling down behind the barricade…Oscar had lost about one third of her men, but the enemy had lost more than half…Oscar had told her men to show the citizens, how to fight and defend…

Meanwhile Oscar and André were together, walking hand in hand. They wanted some time to be together…They didn´t walk far, when they stopped in front of a church. In the same church, where all the men died that die were in…Oscar thanked God André wasn´t there among them…

They sat down on its steps and started to plan their future together…She leaned her head on his shoulder and told all those things she wanted to do with him. Then they talked about their son and wished that they would soon meet him again…They talked about the future, both they both knew that they might not have one…But no one forbid them from dreaming about the better days…

The rest of the day went passed quickly, both the citizens and the former French Guardsmen were practicing fighting for the future…Soon, as the sun set down, everybody was ready to go to sleep…

Oscar and André slept under a cart, because it had started to rain…She rest her head on his chest and fell in sleep…They needed a goodnight sleep, because the next day they would charge into the Bastille… No one knew what the day would be like…Oscar had experienced that before and she wanted to avoid their destiny, but could she do that?

To be continued…


	32. Chapter 31

Chapter 31: The fall of the Bastille prison

Bastille prison…It was another symbol of the Monarchy´s infamy. In the long history of the monarchy, it sealed the mouths of those, who sought freedom and confined their bodies. It was the prison for political and ideological offenders.

When the dawn closed near, the rain had already stopped. July 14th, the monumental day in the history of the French Revolution was about to begin.

At the barricade…

Oscar and André were getting ready for the battle…

André:"…I really don´t like the idea, Oscar."

Oscar:"André, it´s the only way." she kissed him passionately…"I love you, with all my heart."

André:"I love you too, Oscar."

Oscar:"André…" she looked at him and smiled.

Then they took each other´s hands and started to make preparations…

The reason why the attack on the Bastille is famous in history…Is not only because it was a large battle between the ruler and the ruled, but rather because it was the first action based on the consensus of the people. It´s true significance was that it was not instigated by the revolutionary vanguards like Robespierre…but an action of spontaneous solidarity by the nameless citizens who craved for the new era.

14th, July 1789…That was the day the Revolution started in its true sense. Some citizens raided the armory of Invalides… acquiring thirty-six thousand guns and twelve cannons. They headed to the Bastille prison.

At the Bastille prison…

At 1 p.m. the battle finally began. At the time, the Bastille had only Marquise de Launay and 114 of his soldiers, but its solid walls and the power of its cannons plunged tens of thousands of citizens to the depths of Hell…

The people started to charge into the Bastille prison…They commanded the soldiers inside the Bastille to open the gates for them. The soldiers responded by firing at the people…and the people, who now had guns, fired back…

While the citizens fought against the soldiers up in the Bastille, Oscar and her men were getting ready to fire the cannons…Oscar walked towards Alain to say her final words before the battle…

Oscar:"Alain, if something happens to me, I want you to take charge and tell the men to continue firing the Bastille."

Alain:"Yes, Madame."

Then she jumped at to the front of her men…

Oscar:"Okay! All men to positions! Get ready to fire!" she shouted to her men.

When the men were ready, Oscar turned towards the Bastille prison, took her sword from it's sheathe and raised it up…

Oscar:"Fire at forty-five degrees! Aim at the upper part of the fortress! Fire!"

They fired the cannons…

Oscar:"Fire!"she yelled again.

They fired their cannons yet again…Their aim was just perfect, and the soldiers inside the Bastille noticed it quickly…they had to do something about it…A soldier reported to his commander de Launay, who had been sitting still until now…

Soldier:"Your Excellency de Launay! The enemy has begun firing cannons!" just as he was going to continue, cannon balls hit the Bastille yet again…They felt that the Bastille prison was shaken by the hit it had taken…

Soldier:"And their aim is fairly precise! At this rate, we will lose!" he continued.

De Launay walked straight away to an embrasure, where one of his soldiers was standing and firing at the citizens…de Launay then looked out of the embrasure and saw a brave army commander with the soldiers…and he saw that they had cannons…firing at the Bastille prison…

Outside the Bastille…

Oscar was still giving orders to her men to fire the cannons…

Oscar:"Get ready!" she yelled.

Inside the Bastille prison the commander in charge was angry…he was looking at Oscar…He knew that they had to get rid of her…At once…

De Launay:"Okay, aim at that commander. Fire all at once!" he told to his soldiers…And the soldier started to get ready…

Outside the Bastille prison André was further away from Oscar…He had a special job to do…Oscar had told him to take care of the few cannons that were supposed to fire at the Bastille at a very specific moment…He was in charge of those men who handled those cannons…

At that exact moment André told the men to get ready to fire the cannons…They were hidden a bit further from those cannons that Oscar´s men were handling so that they could work in peace…Oscar had told André, that the soldiers in the Bastille prison would concentrate their fire at her, because she was the one firing at them…

André raised his hand up and yelled to the men…"Fire in one minute!"

They were getting ready to fire their cannons at the same time, when the soldiers started to aim at Oscar…Although; their cannons would take care of the soldiers inside the Bastille prison, André felt unease…

André: "Oscar, I really don´t like the idea of you being the target! Damn it, Oscar!" he thought and left his position near the cannons…"I don´t want to lose you!"

Soldier:"Hey, André! What are you doing?! You weren´t suppose to leave!"

André:"The Hell I care about the rules, when my Oscar is in danger!" he shouted and ran to save her…Even thought the cannons would kill the soldiers firing at Oscar, but still…He sensed that she was in great danger and he ran to her…He didn´t care if something happened to himself…He was willing to give his life for the woman he loved.

André yelled to his soldier as he ran to Oscar…"Keep on firing!"

At the same time, de Launay gave his orders…

De Launay:"Fire!"

And the soldiers fired their rifles…

André ran to Oscar and took her into his arms and rushed to the ground…bullets were raining at them…he covered Oscar with his own body…

All of a sudden, there was a large bang…The whole ground seemed to tremble…

Could Oscar survive the fall of the Bastille? This time André was there and he wanted to save her…so badly that he would even give his life for her…Had he survived the day before only that he could now save his beloved Oscar? Or could they both have a chance to survive this?

To be continued…


	33. Epilog

Epilog: The New Age

Then, there was a large bang, when the cannons hit the soldiers at the Bastille and that part of the fortress fell down… the rain of bullets stopped at once…

When Oscar laid on the ground under André…she was half-conscious…half…somewhere else…At that very moment she remembered everything…What had happened to her just after she had died in her nightmare…she had seen white, pure white everywhere…Then she had seen an elderly man…Or was it a man? She did not know for sure…

She only remembered that He had been talking with her…He had told her that she had lived her life as good as she could, much better than most of the people, so he wanted to give her a second chance…A chance to be happy…

Oscar had replied to that…"I don´t regret much…except…there is something I wish I had done differently…There was a man that loved me unquestionably for so long, he protected me, helped me in every way he could…He was even willing to give his life for me!…He was there for me all the time! And I even didn´t noticed his love for me!" she had started to cry…"When I finally realized that I loved him too, it was already too late…We had only one night…only one night together…"

"So, you wish to be with him?" He asked her.

Oscar:"Yes, please…I love him so much…I want to live my life with him, share everything with him…Grow old with him…" she felt desperate…

He noticed, how sad she was…she was genuinely sorry…she had lived rather unhappy life…worrying about everything and everyone…even to that point, that she hadn´t realized the man, who could make her happy, was always there…right next to her…

He wanted to do something about that…So, He decided to help her a little bit…

"All right, I will send you back…Years before you died…So that you will have enough time to change things, to save him and make things right…I have only one condition…"He said.

Oscar:"What´s that?" she was curious.

"That you will be there, when the Bastille falls, be with there with the people. Give them hope, be their heroine. Be a model for them…" He replied.

Oscar:"I will."

"Then, I will send you back. You won´t have any recollection of this conversation, but you will remember your past life as a dreamlike story." He said…"But remember; I will not tell you how you can change your fate or what you should do. It´s all up to you now. You will not have these feelings towards him, when you wake up, so you have to fall in love with him first and then try to save him."

Oscar:"Thank you so much!" she was so happy…" I remember your advice."

"And one thing more; be careful, because you can fail too." He said.

Then Oscar came to…André was still laying on top of her…"André!" she shouted…

André:"Oscar…" he whispered.

Both Oscar and André laid injured on the ground…It was difficult for them to move, so couple of her men carried both of them to a safe place …Bernard was showing the way…

Bernard:"Over here!" he pointed to the men.

They were put on the ground…and a couple of doctors came to examine them…

They looked into each other´s eyes and smiled…André reached her hand and hold it in his…

Oscar:"André…"

André:"Oscar…" he smiled to her.

They heard their men firing at the Bastille and soon it fell…the people began to charge towards it…

Doctor:"You both have been very lucky! Those bullets didn´t hit the vital organs." he smiled to them…"Let´s carry them to my place, where I can operate them! Hurry!" he told the men…

14th, July, 1789… The Bastille fell after four hours of battle…The people had won their first battle…

Some eyewitness testified about a brave and beautiful woman Commander encouraging her men to charge into the Bastille…even then, when she was carried away injured…"She was like Jeanne D´Arc…"

That woman was no other than Diane…Alain´s sister…she had come to witness the fall of the Bastille prison…

Later…

Oscar told André about the conversation she had…The bargain she had made…It all made sense…Everything began to fall into their places…

Arras in 1794…

André was watching, while François was riding a horse…he had become quite a rider...Of course, he was still very young, but he was learning fast…André was very proud of their son.

All of a sudden, he heard noises coming towards them…and he turned to look…

Then André noticed a carriage arriving to their garden…the carriage door opened and Rosalie and Bernard stepped out…

André was happy to see them, all those years ago…

André:"Bernard! Rosalie!" he shouted and ran to them.

Bernard:"André! It´s so good to see you!" they shook hands.

Rosalie:"You´re looking fine! How´s lady Oscar?"

André:"It´s good to see you, too!" he invited them to see François, who got off his horse…

André:"You look great, both of you!"

Rosalie:"Thank you." she smiled…

André:"François…I guess you don´t remember Rosalie and Bernard. You were so young at the time."

François:"How do you do. Welcome to Grandier´s!" he shook hands with their guests.

Rosalie:"What a well-mannered young man!"she said.

André:"We´ve done our best." he smiled and then he turned towards his son…"François! Go and tell your mother, that we have visitors!"

François:"Yes, daddy!"

The boy ran inside the house

Rosalie:"You still havent´said a word about lady Oscar."

André smiled:"Rosalie, she´s not a lady anymore…I mean, she´s my lady, but she´s not a member of the nobility."

Bernard:"I can see why. It is rather dangerous these days."

André:"We are very happy here with our son François. Well, you know Oscar, she really haven´t changed that much!" he smiled.

And soon Bernard´s and Rosalie´s waiting was rewarded…François came back with Oscar…

Bernard´s and Rosalie´s eyes widened as they looked at Oscar…She had changed…well, not that much; she was still wearing pants, but…her stomach had gone much bigger…She was expecting their second child…She looked very happy.

Oscar:"Rosalie! Bernard! It´s so good to see you!" she yelled.

Rosalie:"You´re…"

André looked at his wife…"beautiful!"

Oscar laughed…"And very much pregnant!"

Oscar was happy to see both Bernard and Rosalie…The four of them talked while François was playing…They talked about the Revolution and what happened to them afterwards…

Oscar had quit the military soon after the fall of Bastille, and The French Guards were formally disbanded on 31th August 1789…Oscar and André had permanently moved to Arras with their family and were living a happy life…

Alain had quit the military, too and was now cultivating his own land and taking care of his mother…

Diane had married a baker and they were living in a small town…

Everything had changed… Everything was in transition…Nothing was certain, well; one thing was certain; the Ancien Régime had come to an end…people were tired of hunger and of being considered as the third Estates… After the fall of Bastille, the Declaration of Human Rights was made…Both the King and the Queen were sent to the guillotine in 1793…Oscar and André had visited Marie Antoinette just few days before her death…

The new age had begun…

Bernard:"But what about you two?" he asked Oscar and André…he wanted Oscar and André to tell him about themselves…

Bernard:"I am writing a book about the Revolution and I want to mention you both…"

Rosalie:"Your incredible love story is worth mentioning…It inspires a lot of people…The story of an everlasting love between two people, who were born in different positions, but the two people who would stay together no matter what…Even the storms of Revolution weren´t able to separate you…You two give people hope of the better tomorrow"

André took Oscar into his embrace and they looked into each other´s eyes…

André:"Nothing can separate us." he said and smiled to Oscar…

Oscar:"Nothing."

Then they kissed each other passionately…They were meant for each other…They were destined to be together.

The End.


End file.
